Larsen v. Banner Health System

81 P.3d 196 (2003)

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Larsen v. Banner Health System

Wyoming Supreme Court
81 P.3d 196 (2003)

  • Written by Tammy Boggs, JD

Facts

On April 8, 1958, hospital staff in the Banner Health System (Banner) (defendant) switched newborn baby girls Shirley and Debra, giving Shirley to Jean Morgan and Debra to Polly Levya. Shirley’s actual mother was Levya, and Debra’s actual mother was Morgan. Shirley grew up in the Morgan home, but Morgan’s husband, James, claimed that he was not Shirley’s father and was very suspicious of his wife. Shirley did not resemble the other Morgan children. In 2001, when Shirley was 43 years old, DNA testing revealed that neither James nor Jean Morgan was Shirley’s biological parent. Thereafter, Shirley reunited with Levya. Shirley’s biological father had already died. Shirley Larsen (formerly Shirley Morgan) (plaintiff) and Levya sued Banner Health System in federal district court, alleging damages of emotional pain, suffering, humiliation, anxiety, grief, and expenses for psychological counseling. Banner filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Wyoming did not allow recovery for purely emotional injury in a negligence suit. The district court certified the issue to the Wyoming Supreme Court, which accepted the legal question.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Lehman, J.)

Dissent (Price, J.)

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