Fried v. Archer

Tiffany Fouts was the 15-year-old daughter of Sarah Fried (plaintiff). Tiffany attended a party at the townhome of a minor boy named Eric, where minors were drinking alcohol supplied by Eric’s mother (defendant). Tiffany became sick and half-conscious and was physically and sexually assaulted by guests in the home. Then Tiffany was dragged out in the freezing rain and left in a wooded area behind the townhomes on K Court. Eric did not want emergency vehicles at his home, so Donte, another minor, called the sheriff’s department for help rather than 911. Through Donte, Eric gave the dispatcher, Kim Archer (defendant), a fake street number believed to be near Tiffany. Archer promised to send help. Unknown to Eric, the address given did not exist on K Court. Also, when Archer relayed the address to police, she stated it was on J Court by mistake and omitted any reference to a wooded area. Because the fake street number did exist on J Court, where there was no wooded area, and because of Archer’s communication errors, the police searched the area on J Court without finding Tiffany, and she froze to death that night. Fried brought a wrongful-death action and a survival action against Eric’s mother, Archer, emergency-management official James Terrell, and various other parties (defendants). Fried’s negligence claim against Terrell was based on alleged improper procedures and training for emergency dispatchers. Fried voluntarily dismissed some defendants, and a trial court granted a motion for dismissal for the remaining defendants, including Archer and Terrell. The trial court ruled that Archer and Terrell had no duty to Tiffany, who did not know about or rely on the call to Archer for help. Fried appealed the dismissal of the claims with regard to Archer and Terrell.