Hays v. Hays
Arizona Child Abuse Case
We help victims of professional negligence obtain their rightful compensation. Our attorneys are highly trained in this area of the law. We work hard on your case so you don't have to. Below is an example of a case we took to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
$2.7 million Awarded in Damages.
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Brittany Hays (Daughter) was born on May 8, 1995, to parents Donald Hays (Father) and Elizabeth Hays (Mother).
In June of 2000, Mother filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with Children. The issue of child custody became the subject of bitter dispute. Mother requested that the Court designate her as the primary residential parent, and award Father and Mother joint legal custody.
During the divorce proceedings, Mother reported to police that Father had physically and sexually abused their Daughter. Daughter was interviewed and evaluated by a number of police, medical, and psychological professionals. Father was charged with criminal sexual misconduct.
The trial court held an emergency hearing based on the testimony of the custody evaluator. It was ordered that Father have only supervised parenting time. After a nineteen-day trial, the court found that the allegations against Father were false.
It further found that Mother and the maternal grandparents had subjected the child to suggestive influences regarding the alleged abuse by Father and that the maternal grandmother had emotionally and, possibly, physically and sexually harmed Daughter in an attempt to prevent Father from having contact with Daughter. The court entered a permanent "no contact order" between the maternal grandparents and Daughter, and it ordered Mother to undergo counseling. In 2005, Father was awarded sole custody of Daughter.
In 2015, Brittany Hays (Plaintiff), aged 20 at the time her lawsuit was brought, alleged that her maternal grandmother had molested her to fabricate evidence against Father and that her maternal grandfather and Mother negligently permitted the molestation and encouraged the false allegations against Father, thereby causing severe physical, mental, and emotional damage.
The jury awarded $2,700,000 in damages to Plaintiff and determined Mother was 35% at fault, maternal grandmother was 25% at fault, and maternal grandfather was 5% at fault.
