Anthony Burley (the Decedent) was involuntarily committed to The Village South, Inc. (Village South), an addiction treatment facility. After less than a month, he was discharged for violating the facility’s rules, and forty eight days after discharge, he died from a drug overdose. His father, Robert Burley, individually and as the personal representative of the Estate of Anthony Burley, filed suit against Village South for wrongful death, alleging that the facility owed a legal duty to the Decedent—grounded in statute, regulation and Village South’s own policies and procedures—with respect to the manner of the Decedent’s discharge, and that the facility breached its duty when it failed to refer the Decedent to an appropriate inpatient treatment center and to arrange for post-discharge management of his medication to treat his opioid addiction. The Estate contended that Village South’s breach of this duty proximately caused the Decedent’s death.
Village South moved for summary judgment, which the court granted upon a finding that Village South owed no duty of care to the Decedent because he was “no longer under the custody and control of Village South at the time of his death.” The Estate appealed the trial court’s final summary judgment in favor of Village South.
The Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida stated in its April 2, 2025 Opinion: “Upon our de novo review, we hold that Village South owed a legal duty to the Decedent, and that there remain disputed issues of material fact, precluding summary judgment … the law is well-established: “[A] statute creates a duty of care upon one whose behavior is the subject of the statute to a person who is in the class designed to be protected by the statute, and [] such duty will support a finding of liability for negligence when the injury suffered by a person in the protected class is that which the statute was designed to prevent.””
“The Estate, in its complaint, alleges Village South owed the Decedent a statutory duty under section 397.6751(3), Florida Statutes. Entitled “Service provider responsibilities regarding involuntary admissions,” the statute requires that, where an individual’s behavior requires discharge, “the service provider . . . attempt to assist him or her in securing more appropriate services in a setting more responsive to his or her needs.” (emphasis added). Likewise, subsection (f) of the same statute requires a service provider to “[t]ake all necessary measures to ensure that each individual in treatment is provided with a safe environment, and to ensure that each individual whose medical condition or behavioral problem becomes such that he or she cannot be safely managed by the service component is discharged and referred to a more appropriate setting for care.” (emphasis added); see also § 397.305(1), Fla. Stat. (2016) (expressing legislative intent and findings: “Substance abuse impairment is a disease which affects the whole family and the whole of society and requires a system of care that includes, prevention, intervention, clinical treatment, and recovery support services that support and strengthen the family unit.”) Read in pari materia, these provisions impose a legal duty upon Village South with respect to the alleged negligent conduct related to the Decedent’s placement upon discharge.”
“Village South, as a “service provider” for substance abuse services, is “one whose behavior is the subject of the statute,” and the Decedent as a person involuntarily admitted to a service provider for substance abuse treatment “is in the class designed to be protected” by section 397.6751(3). Palmer, 622 So. 2d at 1090. Further, the Estate presented testimony and other evidence suggesting Village South failed, upon the Decedent’s discharge, to “attempt to assist him . . . in securing more appropriate services in a setting more responsive to his . . . needs.” Such evidence included testimony from Conte (a DCF employee) explaining Village South received a corrective action plan because it “needed to correct the fact [it] did not provide transfer to another substance abuse facility for this client.” Specifically, the facility discharged the Decedent to a homeless shelter with no “link or transfer” to either an out-patient or residential substance abuse provider despite clinical recommendations from Village South’s own clinical team for continued treatment.”
” … the absence of a duty to treat the Decedent following discharge did not negate Village South’s duty under section 397.6751(3) and (1)(f) to “assist him in securing more appropriate services in a setting more responsive to his . . . needs,” and the Estate presented evidence that Village South, at a minimum, should have referred the Decedent to Village South’s outpatient program. The Estate also presented sufficient evidence to support a determination that Village South owed a duty to the Decedent—under the general facts of the case—to properly manage the Decedent’s Suboxone prescription. Whether Village South breached these duties, and whether such breach proximately caused the Decedent’s death, are issues for the finder of fact, and we express no opinion on those issues.”
The Florida appellate court concluded: “We hold that Village South owed a legal duty to the Decedent, arising from legislative enactments or administrative regulations, as well as arising from the general facts of the case. We further hold that there remain disputed issues of material fact, precluding summary judgment. We therefore reverse the final summary judgment and remand this cause for further proceedings.”
Source Burley v. The Village South, Inc., No. 3D23-0258.
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