Peck v. Counseling Service of Addison County, Inc.

*63Hill, J.

Plaintiffs-appellants appeal from a judgment order of the Addison Superior Court that found the defendant-appellee, The Counseling Service of Addison County, Inc. (hereinafter Counseling Service)1 not liable in negligence to the plaintiffs, and dismissing the plaintiffs’ cause of action with prejudice. Because we hold that a mental health professional2 has a duty to take reasonable steps to protect third persons from threatened physical harm posed to them by his or her patient, we reverse.

The pertinent facts are as follows. During the night of June 27, 1979, John Peck, age…