## Facts

- Barbara Myers, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, conducted a therapy group for non-offending family members affected by child sexual abuse.
- Joyce Gross joined the group after being assured that matters discussed in sessions would be kept confidential.
- During a session, Gross disclosed sexual abuse by her husband against their daughters that occurred approximately 16 years earlier; the abuse had not been reported to authorities at the time.
- Myers told Gross she believed Montana law required reporting and gave Gross an opportunity to report; Gross declined.
- Myers made a telephone report to the Department of Human Services; because of the remoteness of the events, the agency did not investigate further.
- Gross sued Myers for damages based on the report, alleging professional negligence, invasion of privacy, violation of statutory confidentiality, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
- The district court granted summary judgment for Myers, finding she was a mandatory reporter under § 41-3-201(1), MCA (1985), and immune from civil liability for reporting.
- Gross appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a licensed clinical social worker conducting group therapy was subject to the mandatory child-abuse reporting requirement of § 41-3-201(1), MCA (1985), under these circumstances.
2. Whether the reporter immunity statutes barred Gross’s civil claims such that summary judgment for Myers was proper.

## Decision

- The Montana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Myers.
- Myers fell within the class of professionals required to report suspected child abuse under § 41-3-201(1), MCA (1985).
- On the undisputed record, Myers had reasonable cause to suspect abuse based on Gross’s disclosures and Myers’s professional judgment.
- Reporter immunity applied because the report was made on reasonable cause, within Myers’s professional role, and without evidence of malice.
- Because all claims arose from the act of reporting, they were barred by statutory immunity as a matter of law.

## Legal Principles

- Mandatory reporting statutes apply to covered mental health and social service professionals, including licensed clinical social workers, when they have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse.
- “Reasonable cause” under § 41-3-201(1), MCA (1985), is assessed as a subjective professional-judgment standard; the professional need not investigate or confirm abuse before reporting.
- The statutory scheme places investigation responsibility on designated authorities, not the reporting professional.
- Good-faith reporters acting on reasonable cause and without malice are immune from civil liability for damages arising from the report.
- The existence of civil and criminal liability for failing to report supports interpreting reporting duties and immunity provisions to encourage reporting.

## Conclusion

The court held that a clinical social worker who receives disclosures suggesting child sexual abuse has a statutory duty to report based on reasonable professional suspicion and is protected from civil liability for making the report absent evidence of malice, even where confidentiality was promised in therapy.


Gross v. Myers, 229 Mont. 509, 748 P.2d 459 (Mont. 1987)