Terri Boroughs & Chapin E. Scheumann Obtain Summary Judgment for Hospital – 2019

In October 2019, Terri E. Boroughs and Chapin Elizabeth Scheumann obtained Summary Judgment on behalf of a hospital in a medical negligence and vicarious liability matter.  The Plaintiff claimed that a traveling nurse who cared for her during her hospital admission had given her medication prescribed for other patients in order to incapacitate her and sexually assault her. Plaintiff also claimed that because of being incapacitated, she did not come to know of the alleged assaulted until several days after the alleged event occurred when she had a flashback to the event.  The Plaintiff filed her claim within one year of when she claimed she gained knowledge of the alleged assault, but beyond one year of the date of the alleged assault itself.

The parties exchanged discovery, which showed that Plaintiff had actually reported the alleged assault to the hospital on the day it occurred.  Based on this evidence, Ms. Boroughs and Ms. Scheumann moved for Summary Judgment, arguing that the Plaintiff did not file her claim within the applicable statute of limitations.  The Jefferson Circuit Court agreed, finding that the Plaintiff’s claims accrued on the date of the alleged assault; consequently, Plaintiff did not file her suit within one year of the alleged event.