Allen v. Department of Mental Health

Plaintiffs brought a wrongful death action in the Court of Claims alleging negligence by defendants’ employees in allowing plaintiffs’ decedent to be temporarily released from a state mental health facility. Plaintiffs’ decedent committed suicide while on a temporary visit to his parents’ home. The Court of Claims granted defendants’ motion for accelerated judgment, grounded on sovereign immunity, MCLA 691.1407; MSA 3.996(107). Plaintiffs appeal as of right.

A majority of the Michigan Supreme Court recently held that the proper inquiry in a case such as this is whether the activity has been…