N.X. v. Cabrini Med. Ctr.,
No. 4 (N.Y. Feb. 14, 2002)
A
patient who was sexually assaulted by a resident physician while she was in the
recovery room following surgery sued the hospital, alleging that it was vicariously
liable for the resident's actions and was directly liable for its own negligence
in hiring him and in failing to adequately protect her. The New York Court of
Appeals affirmed the lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the hospital
on the patient's vicarious liability claim, ruling that the hospital would only
be liable for actions of the resident that were attributable to his duties at
the hospital, which these clearly were not. The appeals court reversed the lower
court's summary judgment in favor of the hospital on the direct negligence claim,
ruling that there were "issues of fact as to whether the nurses [in the recovery
room] actually observed or unreasonably ignored events immediately preceding the
[resident's] misconduct which indicated a risk of imminent harm to plaintiff,
triggering the need for protective action."