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Nixon v. State9/30/2005
Appeal from a denial of the State's motion to dismiss on grounds of governmental immunity. AFFIRMED.
The King can do no wrong, but will he do right by our orphans? Over seventy-five years ago, a professor at the University of Iowa performed an experiment on children at the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home testing a theory regarding the origins of stuttering in young children. The children did not find out they were actual participants in the study for seven decades.
When the children did find out, they sued the State of Iowa for damages relating to their lifelong battle with speech problems. The State filed a motion to dismiss. The State claimed it had not waived its sovereign immunity for the plaintiffs' injuries. The district court overruled the motion. We likewise conclude the State waived its sovereign immunity and affirm.
I. Principles of Review
At the outset, it is important to point out the procedural posture of this case, because it affects our recitation of the facts. We review a district court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for correction of errors at law. Brubaker v. Estate of DeLong, 700 N.W.2d 323, 326 (Iowa 2005). A motion to dismiss should be granted only if the plaintiff's petition "on its face shows no right of recovery under any state of facts." Rees v. City of Shenandoah, 682 N.W.2d 77, 79 (Iowa 2004) (citation omitted). For this reason, we must view the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. Id. Nothing in this opinion, therefore, should be construed as a ruling on the merits of the plaintiffs' claims.
II. Background Facts and Proceedings
In 1939, Professor Wendell Johnson of the University of Iowa (f/k/a "The State University of Iowa") designed a study to test his diagnosogenic (or labeling) theory of stuttering. Professor Johnson believed nonstutterers could become stutterers if others labeled them as stutterers. Professor Johnson directed Mary Tudor, a graduate student at the University, to conduct the study on children at the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home.
To test Professor Johnson's theory, six nonstuttering children at the Home were told they were stutterers or were in danger of becoming stutterers. These children (or their respective estates) are the plaintiffs in the underlying action. They were given negative "therapy" designed to make them stutter. At the conclusion of the study, Tudor concluded all six children displayed a loss of self-confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. Tudor observed detrimental effects on their speech delivery. Over the next few decades graduate students labeled this the "Monster Study," and the title persists today.
For over seventy years, no one told the children about the true nature of the study. In June 2001, however, a newspaper discovered the truth and published a story about the Monster Study.
In April 2003, the plaintiffs sued the State in the district court for intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, invasion of privacy, and civil conspiracy. The plaintiffs claimed the State's tortious actions continued to the present day because it concealed the study from them over the years.
The State filed a motion to dismiss. It maintained the plaintiffs' claims failed because the alleged injuries occurred when the State was sovereignly immune, i.e., before the effective date of the Iowa Tort Claims Act. The district court, however, summarily concluded the petition " ontain claims upon which relief may be granted" and denied the motion. The State applied for interlocutory review, which we granted. We will restrict our analysis to the pertinent argument in
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