Hunsinger v. Graham

To establish a claim for third party liability under ORS 124.100(5), a party must provide sufficient evidence of defendant’s actual knowledge or constructive knowledge that abuse of a vulnerable person occurred. Wyers v. American Medical Response Northwest, Inc., 360 Or 211, 377 P3d 570 (2016).

Plaintiff, son and personal representative of now-deceased Goodrich, appealed a trial court order granting summary judgment for an elder abuse claim. Plaintiff assigned error to the trial court’s determination that the evidence presented was not sufficient to allow a fact finder to determine that Defendant Autio should have known Defendant Graham’s actions constituted elder abuse of Goodrich. Plaintiff argued that the appropriate standard for third party elder abuse is negligence or recklessness. Defendant argued that there was no indication that Goodrich was mentally incapacitated to make her own decision. To establish a claim for third party liability under ORS 124.100(5), a party must provide sufficient evidence of defendant’s actual knowledge or constructive knowledge that abuse of a vulnerable person occurred. Wyers v. American Medical Response Northwest, Inc., 360 Or 211, 377 P3d 570 (2016). The Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not err in dismissing the claim because a prior gift of property to Graham, Autio’s precautionary meeting with Goodrich, and Plaintiff’s trust of Graham with power of attorney all together would not demonstrate to a reasonable person that elder abuse occurred. Affirmed.