Friday, January 23, 2004

Case study in idiocy

I'm always wondering how to demonstrate the difference between negligence, gross negligence, reckless indifference.

Maybe this case is one example. In Gantt v. Security USA, Inc., the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court's entry of summary judgment on the state law intentional infliction of emotion distress claims. The opinion begins like this:

"Dominique Gantt informed her employer, a private security company, that she had obtained a protective order barring her former boyfriend from any contact with her. But Gantt’s supervisor, apparently believing that the estranged couple "should talk," permitted the boyfriend access to Gantt. The boyfriend then, at gunpoint, kidnaped Gantt from her work place and held her captive for six hours, assaulting and raping her. Gantt brings this action against her employer seeking damages for her resulting severe emotional and mental distress. . . ."

The part that really makes me irate is that the employer was a security company!

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