The plaintiffs in this case had adopted a three year old Russian
child, who later had a number of serious medical problems, including
apparent FAS/FAE. They sued the adoption agency which had assisted the
adoption and allegedly had failed to obtain or provide to the parents
information about those problems.
The district court dismissed the lawsuit.
(1) The parents alleged that the agency was guilt of intentional
fraud. The court concluded that there was no evidence that the agency had
withheld any adverse medical information from the parents.
(2) The parents asserted that the agency was guilty of intentional
infliction of emotional distress. The court concluded there was no
evidence that the agency intended to harm the parents, and that the
agency's actions were not "extreme or outrageous."
(3) The parents asserted that the agency was guilty of "negligent
misrepresentation", because it assertedly failed to make a reasonable
effort to investigate the child's medical conditions. The court concluded
that there was at least in most states "a common law duty imposed upon
adoption agencies to investigate the background of prospective adoptees
with reasonable care and to fully inform their client adoptive parents of
the results." (977 F. Supp. at 60). In this case, however, the contract
between the parents and the agency contained language in which the parents
had waived any right to sue over such undiscovered medical
problems.