Munn v. The Hotchkiss School

165 A.3d 1167 (2017)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Hotchkiss School (D), is a private boarding school. Cara L. Munn (P) was a student there. P joined other students and faculty of the school on an educational trip to China. In the spring of 2007, Jean Yu, the director of D's Chinese language and culture program and the leader of the trip, and David Thompson, the director of the defendant's international programs, provided the students who would be traveling to China with information about the trip. The itinerary listed 'Mount Pan' as part of a city tour. The itinerary did not describe 'Mount Pan' or indicate that the students would be visiting a forested area during the trip, which otherwise took place in urban or suburban settings. Students and parents received some written medical advice for the trip in an e-mail including a hyperlink to a CDC website that erroneously directed users to the page addressing Central America, rather than the one addressing China. D's infirmary would serve as a travel clinic, although the infirmary was not qualified to provide travel-related medical advice. A packing list provided to the students going on the China trip included 'bug spray or lotion (or bug spray wipes).' There was no warning about insect-borne illnesses, although other health and medical issues, such as immunizations, prescriptions, and sexually transmitted diseases, were discussed. Thompson viewed the page on the CDC website which instructed travelers to use insect repellent containing the chemical compound DEET and to wear long sleeves and long pants when outdoors. Thompson admitted seeing this information at the time of the trip. Travel information from other sources also reported that tick-borne encephalitis was present in northeastern China. No one warned students or their parents about the presence of tick-borne encephalitis. The group ascended Mount Panshan dressed in shorts and T-shirts or tank tops. Most students, teachers, and chaperones rode a cable car down the mountain. P and two or three other students were permitted to walk down the mountain by themselves. They left the paved pathway and became lost, walking on narrow dirt trails, among trees, and through brush before eventually rejoining the rest of the group. P received many insect bites and soon developed an itchy welt. Ten days later, she began to experience the first symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis. P suffered permanent brain damage. P filed a diversity action in Federal Court alleging that D had been negligent by, failing to warn students and their parents of the risk of exposure to insect-borne diseases and failing to ensure that the students took protective measures against insect bites prior to visiting Mount Panshan. The jury returned a verdict of $10.25 million in economic damages and $31.5 million in noneconomic damages. D moved for judgment as a matter of law or for a new trial. D claimed that the infection from tick-borne encephalitis was unforeseeable, that public policy precluded the imposition of a legal duty on D and that the noneconomic portion of the damages award was excessive as a matter of law. The motions were denied. D appealed and the Appeals court certified to this court the issues of whether Connecticut public policy supports the imposition of a duty on a school to warn about or to protect against the foreseeable risk of a serious insect-borne disease when organizing a trip abroad and, if so, whether the jury's damages award, particularly the noneconomic portion, warranted a remittitur.