Parkland families must turn over some mental health records

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, and their families, will have to turn over some records of their mental health treatment since the tragedy, a Broward County judge ruled Thursday.

But it’s not clear how many victims will have to comply, or how much information they will have to disclose as part of a lawsuit accusing the Broward School Board of failing to protect the students from the shooter’s Valentine’s Day 2018 rampage.

Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning saved the most contentious issues of her ruling for a later date, giving the Broward School Board and the plaintiffs a chance to work it out before she issues a comprehensive ruling that could leave both sides unhappy.

School Board lawyer Eugene Pettis defended the demand for the documents, arguing that it is impossible for the board to defend itself against the plaintiff’s allegations of mental anguish and posttraumatic stress.

The school district in March specified which documents they would be looking for, including mental health evaluations, and plaintiffs objected ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which illustrated just how complicated and grueling the legal case is proving to be, with dozens of victims joined together, from those who lost relatives to those who were wounded to those who witnessed the shooting and suffer PTSD.

Pettis noted that both sides in the case agreed to a mutual discovery process — a routine legal requirement for the litigants to provide relevant information and documents — over a year ago. Both sides also worked on a confidentiality agreement that would keep sensitive material, including physical and mental health records, from the prying eyes of the public.

“These families will never have to read about their business and their personal matters in the public sector,” he vowed.

Settlement talks, Pettis indicated, have not been fruitful.

The district’s liability is capped at a total of $300,000 unless a jury awards more and the Legislature passes a bill authorizing a higher sum.

About 65 people attended the Zoom hearing. The judge appeared to be conducting the session from her home amid the pandemic.

Pettis explained that it would be inappropriate to use some kind of template to determine the impact on individual families, saying it is unique for each individual.

Sometimes the wife or mother, he said, has suffered a different form of grief than the father. “Each of these people has the right to express their unique impacts or losses …”