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Subject: Woman shot in head can sue Detroit 911 worker Author: Chris [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 07/ 9/09 7:38pm Court: Woman shot in head can sue Detroit 911 worker BY DAVID EGGERT • ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 9, 2009 LANSING -- A divided Michigan Supreme Court has allowed a paralyzed gunshot victim to move ahead with her lawsuit against a Detroit 911 operator who asked whether she was "a mental patient" when she called for help. In a 4-3 order released Wednesday, the majority denied the appeal of dispatcher Kimberly Langford. That means Lorraine Hayes' suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress can go to trial. Hayes, a Detroit resident, called 911 twice on Jan. 12, 2005, after being shot by a man she knew. The gunshots paralyzed her from the waist down. In the first call, Hayes calmly asked for an ambulance, giving her address and saying she had been shot in the head. The operator asked whether she was male or female and Hayes stumbled, first saying she was male then correcting herself. After more questions, the operator asked, "Are you a mental patient?" "My body is numb. I'm getting ready to die," Hayes said at one point. The operator said she did not believe Hayes would be able to call if she had been shot in the head and told her she would get in trouble for making a false report. Despite her doubts, the operator sent police to the address. The police apparently could not find the location, and EMS arrived only after Hayes called her son in Minnesota and he called Detroit police -- 42 minutes after Hayes' first call. Dissenting Justice Stephen Markman wrote that Langford may have questioned Hayes in an "inconsiderate and unkind" manner, but it was not "utterly intolerable in a civilized community" -- a requirement to prove intentional infliction of emotional distress. Detroit Corp. counsel Krystal Crittendon, whose office is defending the operator, declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left with the law firm of Geoffrey Fieger, who is Hayes' attorney. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]