Stanphill v. Ortberg

¶ 1 The defendant, Lori Ortberg, performed a suicide screening of Keith Stanphill and determined that Stanphill was not at imminent risk of harming himself. Nine days after that screening, Keith killed himself. The plaintiff, Zachary Stanphill, Keith's son and the administrator of his estate, filed a wrongful death and survival action against Ortberg and her employer, Rockford Memorial Hospital. Following a jury trial, the jury returned a general verdict in the plaintiff's favor and awarded almost $1.5 million in damages. The jury, however, also answered in the negative a special…