State Court Rules on ‘Skeptical’ 911 Call

The Michigan Supreme Court has turned down the request of a Detroit police dispatcher to review a lawsuit that claims she inflicted emotional distress on a 911 caller who had been shot in the head by her ex-boyfriend. The civil lawsuit filed by Lorraine Hayes against Kimberly Langford now can move forward in a local court. Hayes suffered several gunshot wounds in the 2005 incident, but in a medical oddity, was able to dial 911 and explain what had happened, despite her serious head wound. On the logging tape, Langford is skeptical, asked Hayes if she were a “mental patient,” and told her she could be arrested for falsely reporting an emergency on 911. Police did respond to the scene, but were delayed because of their own error. Hayes now says she suffers from neurological disorders and paralysis, and suffers psychiatric injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.The local circuit court dismissed Hayes’ claim of gross negligence, based on governmental immunity, and a state appeals court upheld the decision. The local court also dismissed Hayes’ claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. But the appeals court overturned that decision, saying it wasn’t clear from the court record that Langford actually did not intend to intentionally cause emotional distress. “There still remained a jury-submissible question of fact concerning whether defendant acted recklessly in her treatment of plaintiff during the 911 calls,” the appeals court said. Now, by a 4-3 vote the Supreme Court has declined to hear Langford’s appeal of the lower court’s decision, which puts the case back into a local court for trial on the “intentional infliction” claim. Download (pdf) the appeals court’s two rulings and the recent state Supreme Court ruling here.