Also known as: Tarasoff rules · Tarasoff duty · duty to warn · Tarasoff duty to warn
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A tort doctrine that imposes on a psychotherapist a duty to exercise reasonable care to warn an identifiable victim when the therapist determines or should determine that a patient presents a serious danger of violence to that person.
Tyrone Tran tells his therapist during a session that he plans to kill his ex-wife Tabitha Taylor. The therapist knows Tyrone's history of violence and believes the threat is credible. The therapist contacts Tabitha to warn her of the danger. Tabitha then obtains a protective order and avoids further contact with Tyrone.
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Tiana Tan confides in her psychiatrist that she intends to harm her coworker Talia Torres. The psychiatrist concludes the threat is serious and specific but takes no steps to warn Talia. Talia is later assaulted by Tiana. Talia sues the psychiatrist for failure to warn.
Tonya Takahashi tells her psychologist she will kill her neighbor Taliah Tang. The psychologist alerts campus police who briefly detain Tonya but release her after she appears calm. The psychologist's supervisor orders no further action. Tonya later kills Taliah.
Tomas Tran tells his therapist he will shoot his former colleague Tina Torres. The therapist believes the threat is serious and specific but notifies only the police and makes no attempt to reach Tina. Tina is later shot by Tomas and sues the therapist for failure to warn.
Talia Torres tells her psychologist she intends to stab her roommate Teresa Tang. The psychologist concludes the threat is credible yet takes no protective steps. Teresa is stabbed by Talia and later sues the psychologist for breach of the duty to warn.
Tyler Tran informs his therapist he plans to kill his brother Thomas Tran. The therapist determines the threat is serious and immediately telephones Thomas with a warning. Thomas obtains police protection and avoids injury.
The duty arises when the victim is identifiable, even if not named by name, provided the therapist can reasonably determine who is threatened. Courts have held that a generalized threat to a class of persons does not trigger the duty, but a threat against a specific individual or small group does.
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The therapist must exercise reasonable care to warn the victim or take other steps such as notifying police when the threat is serious and the victim is identifiable. Simply notifying police may not always suffice if the warning to the victim is feasible.
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No. The Tarasoff court held that a cause of action exists for failure to warn but not for failure to confine the patient under the facts presented.
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…of 1963. We shall conclude that plaintiffs' complaints state a cause of action against the psychotherapists for breach of the duty to warn Tatiana or her parents, but that they do not state a cause of action against the police for failure to warn or failure to confine. We further conclude that the police defendants are immune…