Plaintiffs
Lale and Joan Roberts sent their 17-year-old daughter to defendant Kathryn
Salmi for counseling. During the therapy
sessions, the daughter claimed to remember that her father physically and
sexually abused her. Salmi reported
these allegations to Children’s Protective Services. During the ensuing investigation, the
daughter also accused her mother of molesting her. No criminal charges were ever brought. The plaintiffs sued Salmi for medical
malpractice, alleging among other things that she improperly implanted or
reinforced false memories of abuse in their daughter’s mind. The trial judge held that Salmi did not owe a
duty of care to the plaintiffs, and dismissed their lawsuit. But the Court of Appeals reversed in a split
published opinion. The majority held
that Michigan’s common law recognizes a duty of care to third parties who might
foreseeably be harmed by a mental health professional’s use of techniques that
cause a patient to have false memories of sexual abuse. The dissenting judge concluded that whether a
mental health professional owes a duty to a patient’s parents under these
circumstances is a policy decision best left to the Legislature. Salmi appealed to the Supreme Court. On September 16, 2015, the Supreme Court
granted leave to appeal to consider “whether a mental health professional has a
duty of care to third parties who might foreseeably be harmed by the mental
health professional’s use of techniques that cause a patient to have false
memories of sexual abuse.”