Herrington v. Gaulden, 294 Ga. 285

Deloris Gaulden suffered cardiac arrest and died in Liberty Regional Medical Center's ER; her daughter sued multiple defendants, including ER medical director Dr. Bobby L. Herrington.
Plaintiff alleged the treating physician and nurse failed to implement the hospital's chest pain protocol and that better training/supervision could have saved Gaulden.
Plaintiff claimed Dr. Herrington, as medical director, had undertaken responsibility to supervise training and thus owed a duty to ensure adequate staff training.
The trial court granted summary judgment for Dr. Herrington; the Court of Appeals reversed as to professional-negligence liability, relying on Gray v. Vaughn and Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A(a).
The Supreme Court of Georgia granted certiorari to review whether Herrington owed a legal duty to Gaulden based on his supervisory role.
The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding neither Gray nor § 324A(a) supported imposing a duty here because Herrington did not control the manner/method of care nor affirmatively increase risk to the patient.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a medical director who agrees to supervise staff training owes a legal duty to a patient for negligent supervision (professional negligence)	Gaulden: Herrington assumed responsibility for supervising training and thus owed patients a duty to ensure adequate knowledge of hospital protocols	Herrington: He had no authority to control manner/method of clinicians' care and therefore owed no duty to non‑patients he did not treat	Held: No duty. Gray is distinguishable; Herrington lacked authority to direct clinical manner/method, so Gray does not apply
Whether Restatement § 324A(a) imposes liability for failing to supervise training when failure allegedly increases patient risk	Gaulden: Undertaking supervision increased patient risk when negligently performed, so § 324A(a) applies	Herrington: § 324A(a) requires the defendant to have increased the risk (made a condition more hazardous), not merely failed to reduce an existing hazard	Held: § 324A(a) inapplicable. Court found no evidence Herrington escalated risk; mere failure to abate or clarify did not trigger § 324A(a)

Gray v. Vaughn, 217 Ga. App. 872 (1995) (court found duty where defendant contracted to direct manner/method of nursing assistance in ER)
Huggins v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 245 Ga. 248 (1978) (Georgia adopts Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A)
Gaulden v. Green, 319 Ga. App. 84 (2012) (Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment as to professional negligence against Herrington)
BP Exploration & Oil v. Jones, 252 Ga. App. 824 (2001) (§ 324A(a) applies when defendant’s negligence makes a nonhazardous condition hazardous; mere failure to decrease risk insufficient)
Taylor v. AmericasMart Real Estate, 287 Ga. App. 555 (2007) (explaining § 324A(a) requires exposure to a greater risk than previously existed)
Bradley Ctr. v. Wessner, 250 Ga. 199 (1982) (traditional medical malpractice requires doctor–patient relationship for duty)