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Public Protection: 911 Phone Systems
Monthly Law Journal Article: Public Protection: 911 Phone Systems, 2014 (6) AELE Mo. L. J. 101.
A county deputy sheriff called a married couple, who were not county employees, and asked them to go check on their neighbor, who had called 911, allegedly for help related to inclement weather. The couple agreed to do so, and unwittingly walked into a murder scene. They were then brutally attacked by a man who allegedly just murdered their female neighbor and her boyfriend. The couple sued the county and the deputy for misrepresentation and negligence. They claimed that the defendants created a special relationship with them and owed them a duty of care, which they breached by representing that the 911 call was likely weather-related and “probably no big deal” and by withholding information known to the defendants suggesting that there was a crime in progress.The defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the plaintiffs’ exclusive remedy was workers’ compensation, because California Labor Code section 3366 provides that any person “engaged in the performance of active law enforcement service as part of the posse comitatus or power of the county, and each person . . . engaged in assisting any peace officer in active law enforcement service at the request of such peace officer, is deemed to be an employee of the public entity that he or she is serving or assisting in the enforcement of the law, and is entitled to receive compensation from the public entity in accordance with the provisions of this division [workers’ compensation]. . . .” An intermediate state appeals court agreed, and ruled that section 3366 applied, because responding to a 911 call for help of an uncertain nature is active law enforcement, regardless of the deputy’s alleged misrepresentations. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit was barred on the ground that they were assisting in active law enforcement. Gund v. County of Trinity, #Co76828, 2018 Cal. App. Lexis 522.
A motorist called 911 to report that
several men had thrown a bottle and broken his car's windshield. He told the
operator who answered the call that the incident occurred at a certain location
in Detroit but that he and his passengers had fled to safety to Wheat Ridge, a
nearby municipality. For unclear reasons, the 911 operator told him that he had
to return to Detroit to receive any help from the police. While he was driving
back to Detroit, he was shot and killed. His estate sued the 911 operator for
violation of his civil rights. The trial court granted the defendant operator
summary judgment on a variety of claims, with the sole exception of a 14th
Amendment substantive due process claim based on a theory of state-created
danger. Reversing, a federal appeals court ruled that the law was not clearly
established that a reasonable 911 operator would have known that the conduct at
issue violated the decedent's rights. The 911 operator was unlike any of the
defendants in the Tenth Circuit's state-created danger cases, he was not a
police officer, firefighter, or other similar first responder. Further, he did
not impose any limitation on the deceased's freedom to act. Estate of Pal Reat
v. Rodriguez, #15-1001, 824 F.3d 960 (10th Cir. 2016).
A woman who lived in an
unincorporated area for which separate entities handled police emergencies and
fire and ambulance services called 911, complaining that she could not breathe.
The first operator who answered transferred the call to another agency's
dispatcher and hung up. The next dispatcher got no response to her questions,
hung up, and called the woman's number, but got a busy signal. An ambulance was
dispatched for an "unknown emergency," and the crew that arrived
could not enter and were not able to make a forced entrance without police.
They were ordered to leave. After additional 911 calls were made by the woman's
neighbors, a crew entered the home 41 minutes after the first call, but by then
the woman was dead. Her family sued, and all defendants (a fire protection
district and its ambulance crew) were granted summary judgment by the trial
court, based on the public duty rule and a finding that the defendants did not
owe the woman any special duty. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed and used
the case to abolish the public duty rule in Illinois and its special duty
exception. Further proceedings were ordered to determine whether the defendants
could be held liable for alleged willful and wanton conduct under the Local
Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/1-101 et
seq., in failing to adequately respond to the 911 call. The court found that
the public policy once served by the public duty rule and its exceptions were
not adequately served by enacted statutory immunities that limit liability for
certain types of governmental activity to willful and wanton misconduct.
Coleman v. E. Joliet Fire Prot. Dist., #117952, 2016 IL 117952, 2016 Ill. Lexis
257.
After suffering a pulmonary embolism, a woman
dialed 911, telling the dispatcher that she could not breathe and needed
emergency assistance. Due to a series of errors by dispatchers and emergency
personnel, paramedics did not arrive for about 42 minutes, by which time she
was dead. The trial court properly granted summary judgment to the defendants
on a wrongful death claim. The decedent had no duty to her under the public
duty rule, and no exception applied when she was not under the direct or
immediate control of any defendant. Coleman v. East Joliet Fire Protection
Dist., #117952, 2014 IL App (3d) 120583-U, 2014 Ill. App. Unpub. Lexis 1217.
A man called a county 911 line stating that
another man was threatening to kick in his door and harm him, and requesting
assistance. The dispatcher learned that the threatening man had apparently left
and told the caller that there was therefore no longer a need for an officer to
come to his home. No officer was sent and no further call was made. It was
later discovered that the threatening man had robbed and killed the resident.
The dead man's estate sued the county and dispatcher for wrongful death. The
West Virginia Supreme Court upheld summary judgment for the defendants, who did
not owe a special duty of care to the caller. Upchurch v. McDowell County 911,
#12-0824, 2013 W. Va. Lexis 1149.
After an SUV collided with a center divider, a
911 operator allegedly told callers that California Highway Patrol officers
were on the way. The 911 operator did not put into the computer that the
disabled SUV was blocking traffic lanes, as a result of which the call was
assigned to a patrol unit that was further away, rather than one close by. A
Greyhound bus subsequently collided with the SUV, resulting in personal injury
and wrongful death lawsuits by passengers. Greyhound argued the 911 operator's
actions had helped cause the second accident. Rejecting liability, an
intermediate California appeals court ruled that the California Highway Patrol
had no duty to come to anyone's aid in the absence of a special relationship
entered into because an officer's affirmative acts caused the peril or
increased it, but no such special relationship existed with the injured bus
passengers. Greyhound Lines v. Department of the California Highway Patrol,
#F063590, 2013 Cal. App. Lexis 117.
An intermediate North Carolina appeals court held
that a county 911 center provides a governmental function, protecting the
health and welfare of the county's citizens. It also noted that the center's
insurance policy provided that it does not waive the defense of governmental
immunity. It further held, therefore, that a trial court acted properly in
dismissing a lawsuit against the 911 operators in their official capacity,
while letting claims against them in their individual capacity proceed. The
lawsuit concerned the 911 center's allegedly inadequate response to calls
concerning a child who had stopped breathing, and subsequently died. Wright v.
Gaston County, #COA09-792, 2010 N.C. App. Lexis 1248.
Two officers responded to a 911 call indicating that a
man was having a seizure in his home. Finding the man in his bedroom, the
officers allegedly told him to get dressed, which he started to do, but then he
started to lie down again, and the officers allegedly picked him up by his
hands, pulled him up from the ground, and told him to put his pants on. They
ultimately handcuffed his wrists and ankles and the man began actively
struggling with them. The officers, however, claimed that the man was
unresponsive to verbal questioning, that one of them put a hand on his arm or shoulder
to try to rouse him, and that he then did rouse, becoming aggressive and
violent, pushing them and causing one officer to fall backwards, making it
necessary to handcuff him. Firefighters then arrived as the officers were
restraining him, and together with emergency medical personnel removed him on a
stretcher. In a lawsuit against the officers for violation of the man's Fourth
Amendment rights, a jury awarded him $6,000 for medical bills, and $275,00 for
pain and suffering, but the trial court reduced the pain and suffering award to
$10,000. A federal appeals court upheld this result, finding that the jury
could reasonably have found that the officer acted in an "objectively
law-enforcement rather than medical-response capacity," and unreasonably searched
the house for drugs and seized the plaintiff. McKenna v. Honsowetz, #08-2080,
2010 U.S. App. Lexis 17114 (6th Cir.).
A man found his fiancée murdered by an
unknown intruder in the apartment they shared. He filed a lawsuit against the
county, which operates the local 911 emergency call system, claiming that a 911
call from the murdered woman was improperly handled, and seeking damages for
negligent infliction of emotional distress he allegedly suffered as a
bystander. A Wisconsin intermediate appeals court ruled that the plaintiff, as
the murder victim's fiancé, was not in a category of persons "who
may state a bystander claim for negligent infliction of emotional
distress." State law, the court reasoned, limits such claims to the
relationships between the plaintiff and the victim as spouses, parent-child,
grandparent-grandchild, or siblings. Estate of Zimmerman v. Dane County,
#2009AP1710, 2010 Wisc. App. Lexis 565.(Unpub. Dist. 4).
A village and its board could not be held liable
for the death of a woman's husband based on the alleged electronic equipment
failure of the 911 system. While state law imposes a duty to provide a 911
emergency call system, that duty is owed to the public at large, not to
specific individuals. Donovan v. The Village of Ohio, #3-08-0776, 2010 Ill.
App. Lexis 10 (3rd Dist.).
In response to a 911 call reporting a potentially
suicidal armed teenager, a city dispatched both an ambulance and law
enforcement officers. The teenager's mother subsequently filed a federal civil
rights lawsuit claiming that a failure to properly respond to the call caused
her daughter to be shot and injured by an officer. The plaintiff did not
establish that the city had a special duty to her or her daughter, and the
court ruled that there also was no showing of negligence on the part of the
city, or of a policy or custom of failing to respond appropriately to calls for
emergency assistance. Perkins v. City of Rochester, #06-CV-6585, 2009 U.S.
Dist. Lexis 55490 (W.D.N.Y.).
In a 2-1 decision, an intermediate Ohio appeals
court ruled that a city and its 911 dispatcher were not liable for negligence
in advising a mother to stop following her estranged husband after he had
kidnapped her 18-month old daughter, who he subsequently murdered. The
dispatcher did not engage in willful and wanton misconduct in advising the
mother to either pull over or to return to her home and wait for police to
provide assistance. The city and dispatcher were therefore entitled to
governmental immunity. Myrick v. City of Cincinnati, C-080119, 2008 Ohio App.
Lexis 5730 (Ohio App.1st Dist.).
Florida Supreme Court rules that claim against sheriff
for negligence resulting in wrongful death may proceed when his office assumed
a duty of care by responding to a woman's 911 call seeking emergency assistance
but failed to have an ambulance sent to her location. Wallace v. Dean, No.
SC08-149, 2009 Fla. Lexis 138.
Florida appeals court upholds summary judgment
for city in lawsuit challenging city policy of recording all telephone calls to
and from 911 call center. The plaintiffs contended that this included the
improper recording of personal outgoing calls made by city employees and of
non-emergency incoming calls. While the appeals court did not agree with the
city or the trial court that all calls needed to be recorded to comply with a
state 911 statute, the city had a good faith basis for its belief that the
manner in which the "instant playback" system was installed in the
center was legal, and the city's playback system was in compliance with the
requirements of a Florida state 911 plan. Brillinger v. City of Lake Worth,
Florida, No. 4D07-2033, 2008 Fla. App. Lexis 5200 (Fla. App. 4th Dist.).
A police dispatcher allegedly improperly used his
job facilities, including searching 911 databases, to find and kill his former
girlfriend and her boyfriend, relying on motor vehicle and license plate
registrations The dispatcher's supervisor allegedly became aware of the
dispatcher's improper searches and suspended him. During the suspension, two
co-workers allegedly assisted him in obtaining information without
authorization. In a lawsuit brought by the estate of the boyfriend,
"state-created danger" claims against the supervisor were rejected,
since he did not "act affirmatively" to increase the danger, but the
plaintiff sufficiently pled that the co-workers knew of the dispatcher's
threats to make the boyfriend "pay" for dating his ex-girlfriend, and
acted with deliberate indifference to the results of their acts in assisting
him, which constituted "conscience-shocking" behavior. The appeals
court further ruled, however, that the plaintiff should be allowed to amend her
claims against the supervisor to attempt to better establish them. Phillips v.
County of Allegheny, No. 06-2869, 2008 U.S. App. Lexis 2513 (3rd Cir.).
Sheriff's deputies had no legal duty under
Florida law to "act with care' while performing a well-being check at a
woman's residence in response to a 911 call. When they came to her home, they
found her breathing but unresponsive on a couch in her home, but did not summon
medical aid, instead telling a neighbor to leave the woman's door unlocked and
check on her later. The neighbor found the woman still unresponsive the next
day, and called emergency medical personnel, who took the woman to the
hospital, where she died without again becoming conscious. The court found that
the deputies did not engage in any actions that increased or changed the risk
to the woman, other than the risk that already existed. They also never assumed
control over the premises or engaged in actions causing the neighbor or anyone
else to rely on them. Wallace v. Dean, No. 5D06-4289, 2007 Fla. App. Lexis
18806 (Fla. App. 5th Dist.).
Firefighters, paramedics, and an emergency medical
technician were not liable for the death of a man having an epileptic seizure
based on claims that they used excessive force in restraining him after
responding to a 911 call. They were entitled to qualified immunity because
there was no clearly established law holding that paramedics answering such an
emergency request for help made a Fourth Amendment "seizure" of the
person they were attempting to assist by restraining him. The decedent was not
in custody, so that any failure to provide appropriate medical treatment was
not a violation of substantive due process. The court also ruled that the
state-created danger doctrine did not apply. Peete v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville
& Davidson County, No. 06-5321, 2007 U.S. App. Lexis 11959 (6th Cir.).
Death of woman who was having difficulty
breathing could not result in municipal liability merely based on a fact that
help was summoned through the city's 911 service, particularly when 911 was not
called by anyone in the household, but rather by a medical alert company
contacted by a household member. Conduct by an officer who arrived on the
scene, however, and who allegedly repeatedly assured the household members that
help was on the way, might be a basis for liability, requiring further
proceedings. Etienne v. N.Y. City Police Dept., 2005-07313, (Index No.
8486/00), 2007 N.Y. App. Div. Lexis 2106 (2nd Dept.).[N/R]
City was not liable for the drowning of four boys
based on alleged failure to respond to 911 call. Evidence presented did not
show any justified reliance on a promise to send assistance or that the boys
were placed into a worse situation than they would have been in had the 911
call not been made. Accordingly, there was no "special relationship"
as required to impose liability under New York state law. Court further rejects
the argument that emergency personnel's alleged failure to follow departmental
standards of conduct and protocols, on its own could be a basis for liability.
Badillo v. City of New York, No. 9632-9633, Index 13186/04, 2006 N.Y. App. Div.
Lexis 15811 (1st Dept.). [N/R]
New York highest court rejects claim that City of
New York was liable for failing to have an ambulance arrive at an office where
a man was having a stroke until 35 minutes after his co-worker made a 911 call.
The city's alleged slowness in responding to the 911 call placed by the
co-worker, the court found, does not fit within an exception to the general
rule of non-liability where an injured person has a "special
relationship" with the city. The court found that no such special
relationship existed, because the injured man, who was the plaintiff, did not
have any direct contact with, and did not rely on any undertaking by the city's
911 operator. Laratro v. City of New York, No. 183 2006 N.Y. Lexis 3750. [N/R]
County was not liable for failure to provide
assistance to a heart attack victim on the basis of a 911 call which was hung
up before the dispatcher receiving the call could respond, and before any
assurance of assistance was made. The dispatcher still sent an officer to
investigate, but a prank call had also come from the same pay phone minutes
earlier, and the officer cleared the call after finding a boy near the phone
who admitted to having made the prank call, failing to go on to the address given
in the call reporting the heart attack. The heart attack victim subsequently
died. Under these circumstances, no promise of medical aid was given on which
the heart attack victim could have reasonably relied. Cummins v. Lewis County,
No. 76249-0, 133 P.3d 458 (Wash. 2006). [N/R]
County was not liable for assault on condominium
owner, his 8-month-old son, and his neighbor by a disturbed man who broke into
the home with a painted face while wearing what appeared to be a straight
jacket and claimed to be on a mission from God. While the 911 operator who
responded to the homeowner's call told him that she had notified police about
his call about the man attempting to break in, she did not make any assurances
that he would be protected, or any statements that he relied on in staying in
his home. Harvey v. County of Snohomish, No. 76575-8, 245 P.3d 216 (Wash.
2006). [N/R]
In a lawsuit by a stroke victim and his wife
against the City of New York for failing to provide timely assistance in
response to a 911 call, the requirement for municipal liability of showing
"direct contact" between agents of the city and the injured person is
satisfied by a call made by the wife, rather than the victim, as a caller with
a close relationship to the person in need. Factual issues as to whether the
plaintiffs justifiably relied on the city's "affirmative undertaking"
to provide assistance barred summary judgment for the city. Laratro v. City of
New York, 808 N.Y.S.2d 145 (A.D. 1st Dept. 2005). [N/R]
Illinois Supreme Court rules that police officers
who allegedly failed to assist domestic violence victim in response to 911 call
were not entitled to absolute immunity under state law on a claim that their
inaction was willful and wanton conduct which caused her death when her husband
subsequently shot her. More specific limited immunity provision of domestic
violence statute applied instead, with an exception for willful and wanton
conduct. Moore v. Green, No. 100029, 2006 Ill. Lexis 613. [2006 LR Jun]
County and officer were not liable for woman's
murder by her boyfriend, based on officer's dispatch to her residence following
911 calls, and decision to leave when he failed to hear any indications of a
dispute inside. These actions neither created nor increased the danger that the
woman would be killed, so there could be no liability under a
"state-created danger" theory. May v. Franklin County Comm'rs, No.
05-3188, 2006 U.S. App. Lexis 3528 (6th Cir.). [2006 LR Apr]
Police department was not liable for the death of
a man who became ill at another person's home based on alleged failure to
timely respond to a 911 call for assistance. The claims asserted were barred by
governmental immunity under Connecticut state law in the absence of knowledge
that a failure to act would be likely to expose an identifiable person to an
imminent harm. Glorioso v. Police Department of the Town of Burlington, No.
X01CV02-01684818, 867 A.2d 160 (Conn. Super. 2004). [N/R]
Because there was a genuine issue of fact as to
whether a 911 emergency operator gave express promises to an assault victim
that police were being dispatched to the scene, or were already there, summary
judgment in favor of the county was precluded in victim's negligence lawsuit.
Court rules, however, that the county sheriff could not be held vicariously
liable for the alleged negligence of county employees merely because he was
their supervisor. Harvey v. County of Snohomish, No. 53449-1-I, 103 P.3d 836
(Wash. App. 2004). [N/R]
911 operator was not liable for man's murder of
his wife and daughter based on classification of call by daughter as a family
violence situation rather than a child injury in progress call. No violation of
equal protection or due process was shown, and operator was entitled to qualified
immunity. Beltran v. Amador, No. 03-50427, 2004 U.S. App. Lexis 7234 (5th Cir.
2004). [2004 LR May]
Texas statute, T.C.A. Civil Practice and Remedies
Code Secs. 101.021(1) and 101.062(b), which states that Tort Claims Act applied
to claims against public entities arising out of a volunteer's action in the
course of providing 911 service or response only when the action violates a
statute or ordinance did not unambiguously waive governmental immunity for such
claims, but instead appeared to be intention to restrict liability of those
responding to 911 calls rather than creating further liability. City of Dayton
v. Gates, #09-03-310 CV, 126 S.W.3d 288 (Tex. App., Beaumont 2004). [N/R]
California Supreme Court rules that there is no
liability for a public entity or its employees based on the alleged delay or
failure to dispatch emergency personnel and equipment in response to a 911 call
for assistance. Exception under statute for actions taken in bad faith or with
gross negligence do not impose a general duty to provide assistance, but rather
define the level of negligence needed to support liability once aid is actually
rendered. Eastburn v. Regional Fire Protection Authority, No. S107792, 7 Cal.
Rptr. 3d 552, 80 P.3d 656 (Cal. 2003). [2004 LR Mar]
Officer may have had a duty to protect a woman
who called 911 when she was restrained in her apartment by an attacker, but his
decision, in investigating the call, to knock, look in a window, and leave when
he received no response was not unreasonable. May v. Franklin County Bd. of
Com'rs, No. 01-4000, 59 Fed. Appx. 786 (6th Cir. 2003). [2003 LR Jul]
Police officers who declined to enter an
apartment when responding to a neighbor's 911 call reporting that a woman
inside had screamed were not "deliberately indifferent" to the rights
of the woman resident who was raped and murdered. The officers heard nothing
from inside during their investigation and made a good faith decision not to
attempt to enter. Schieber v. City of Philadelphia, No. 01-2312, 320 F.3d 409
(3rd Cir. 2003). [2003 LR Jun]
City liable to man who injured his back while providing
requested assistance to emergency medical technicians in lifting 300-lb.
neighbor from his house to an ambulance responding to a 911 call. Governmental
immunity did not apply, and plaintiff was properly awarded $345,000 in damages,
along with $5,000 to his wife for loss of consortium. Caillouet v. City of New
Orleans, No. 2002-CA-0475, 834 So. 2d 521 (La. App. 4th Cir. 2002). [N/R]
City which provided 911 phone system
to respond to emergency calls and dispatched emergency medical technicians to
assist one-year-old child choking on a grape was not liable for child's death
based on alleged delay in arrival and failure to successfully rescue him. Federal
appeals court rules that the city had no constitutional duty to provide
competent rescue services. A "shocks the conscience" legal standard
applied to the plaintiffs' due process claim, rather than a standard of
"deliberate indifference." Brown v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Health Emergency Medical Services Training Institute, No.
01-3234, 2003 U.S. App. Lexis 953 (3rd Cir. 2003). [2003 LR Mar]
City was not liable for man's death based on 911
operator's decision to refer call asking for ambulance to a private ambulance
company rather than dispatching a city ambulance. City policy and custom did
not allow the reference of emergency calls to such private companies. Beswick
v. City of Philadelphia, 185 F. Supp. 2d 418 (E.D. Pa. 2001). [2002 LR Jun]
No special relationship existed between
municipalities which operated 911 system and caller who stated that he was
being chased in a car by two men, one of whom had earlier threatened to kill
him; cities and sheriff had no liability for caller's subsequent death. Pierre
v. Jenne, No. 4D01-709, 795 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2001) [2002 LR
Feb]
Alleged eight minute response time to 911 call
reporting attack on African-American pool hall co-owner by his fellow
investors, even if true, did not show denial of equal protection. Plaintiff did
not show that any delay was racially motivated or that response time was
unreasonable. Brew v. City of Emeryville, No. C-99-4720, 138 F. Supp. 2d 1217
(N.D. Cal. 2001). [2002 LR Jan]
342:93 Paramedics responding to 911 call did not
engage in willful and wanton misconduct by failing to take injured bar patron
to the hospital when he refused treatment after they rendered him conscious and
did not have reason to know that he was suffering from blunt impact injuries to
his head from a fight rather than from intoxication alone. Denham v. City of
New Carlisle, No. 98-CA-19, 741 N.E.2d 587 (Ohio App. 2000).
342:93 UPDATE: $2.7 million settlement in case
where Illinois jury awarded $50 million to parents of youth who died of an
asthma attack after 911 emergency call was made. Gant v. City of Chicago, No.
97-L-3579, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, p. 3 (March 8, 2001), Liability Reporter
No. 339, p. 46 (March 2001). The plaintiffs and city have now settled the case
for $2.7 million, prior to a scheduled May 1 trial date. Gant v. City of
Chicago, No. 97-L-3579, Circuit Ct., Cook County, Ill., reported in The
National Law Journal, p. A6 (April 23, 2001).
339:46 UPDATE: City wins retrial on damages in case
where Illinois jury awarded $50 million to parents of youth who died of an
asthma attack after 911 emergency call was made. Gant v. City of Chicago, No.
97-L-3579, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, p. 3 (March 8, 2001).
337:11 Illinois jury awards $50 million to
parents of youth who died of an asthma attack after 911 emergency call was
made; response time of up to 8-1/2 minutes by paramedics stationed at firehouse
one block away, alleged
understaffing of dispatchers, and failure to
provide CPR instructions were all pointed to, based on which jury found
"willful and wanton" misconduct. Gant v. City of Chicago, No.
97-L-3579 (Nov. 30, 2000, Cir. Ct., Cook Co., Ill.), reported in The National
Law Journal, p. A12 (Dec. 18, 2000).
EDITOR'S NOTE: In American National Bank &
Trust Co. v. City of Chicago, #86215, 735 N.E.2d 551 (Ill. 2000), the Illinois
Supreme Court found that a complaint adequately alleged willful and wanton
misconduct in a 911 liability case similarly involving an asthma attack.
320:118 Federal appeals court rules that giving
domestic violence 9-1-1 calls lower priority than other 9-1-1 calls may
constitute an equal protection claim; finds that trial court did not adequately
explore whether such a policy existed or whether it was rationally based.
Fajardo v. County of Los Angeles, #96-55699, 179 F.3d 698 (9th Cir. 1999).
320:119 Officers were not entitled to qualified
immunity for failure to make forced into woman's apartment after she made 9-1-1
call reporting her husband's attempt to murder her. Didzerekis v. Stewart, 41
F.Supp. 2d 840 (N.D. Ill. 1999).
315:38 City could not be held liable for damages
for defects in 911 system which made it more difficult for deaf persons to make
emergency calls in absence of a showing of intent to discriminate on the basis
of disability. Ferguson v. City of Phoenix, #96-17350, 157 F.3d 668 (9th Cir.
1998).
314:29 Indiana city entitled to governmental
immunity for death of man suffering heart attack who died after no ambulance
was sent, despite four conversations with 911 dispatcher promising that an
ambulance was on its way. Barnes v. Antich, 700 N.E.2d 262 (Ind. App. 1998).
295:110 City was not entitled to immunity under
Illinois law for failure to swiftly respond to 911 call seeking ambulance for
heart attack victim; factual issue remained as to whether city acted
"willfully and wantonly" Harrell v. City of Chicago Heights, 945
F.Supp. 1112 (N.D.Ill. 1996).