Therapist to pay $800,000 in damages

Another case where the penalty is possible not heavy enough. From the Billings Gazette.

A district judge on Thursday approved an $800,000 settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by a Billings woman against her daughter's psychologist.

Judge Susan Watters said the settlement amount was reasonable considering the damages that Betty Bowman suffered from her family's association with Constance Reynolds, a therapist whose license was revoked in 2004.

Bowman's daughter, Dana Mobley, was a client of Reynolds when the two became lovers. Mobley later died while living with Reynolds.

After the hearing Thursday, Bowman said the settlement brings little relief to a difficult period in her life. Her daughter died in February 2004, and her husband died six months later. She filed the lawsuit against Reynolds in 2005.

"It's hard," Bowman said outside the courtroom. "Losing my whole family and being financially embarrassed. You believe in somebody and trust somebody and then have them turn you upside down and backwards."

In the lawsuit, Bowman claimed the psychologist was negligent and committed malpractice, fraud and identity theft when she began a sexual relationship with her daughter while treating her as a client. The lawsuit stated that Mobley died in part because of medications Reynolds improperly gave to her.

Reynolds, who now lives in Florida and represented herself in the lawsuit, could not be reached Thursday for comment. She did not attend the hearing Thursday.

Despite the settlement, the legal case is not over. Chicago Insurance Co., which provided Reynolds with malpractice insurance, has filed a federal lawsuit against both Reynolds and Bowman, stating that Reynolds' policy does not cover the claims made by Bowman against Reynolds.

Bowman's attorney, Brad Arndorfer, said a judge is expected to rule on the issue early next year.

Reynolds was sued by two other Billings residents, Kelli Van Laanen and Kay Easterling. The women accused Reynolds in separate lawsuits of professional malpractice.

Easterling was in a relationship with Mobley when Mobley and Reynolds began dating. Easterling's lawsuit was settled last year; terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Van Laanen's case was recently resolved with an agreement by Reynolds to pay Van Laanen $100 a month for three years. If Reynolds fails to make the payments, the agreement states, Van Laanen can seek to collect $80,000 in damages.

Befoare the lawsuits were filed, a state administrative law judge found that Reynolds had an inappropriate relationship with Mobley and recommended the psychologist lose her state license. The Montana Board of Psychology unanimously followed the recommendation in June 2004.

At the hearing Thursday, Missoula psychologist Janet Allison testified by telephone that Reynolds violated her ethical duties to Bowman, who she said trusted Reynolds to care for her daughter.

In a report prepared last year, Allison described Reynolds' actions as "a tragic example" of the harm an unethical psychologist can cause.

"In my three decades of work in the field, I have never seen a more egregious case of professional violations of ethics or of damage inflicted on clients by a psychologist," Allison wrote.

Bowman testified Thursday that she deeded a house to Reynolds so Reynolds and her daughter would have a safe home to share. Reynolds then took out a mortgage on the home, Bowman said, and never paid her the full price of the house.

Bowman said she loaned Reynolds $10,000 on one occasion and was not repaid, and Reynolds used her credit cards without her permission or knowledge. One credit card debt grew to $13,000, Bowman said, and her credit rating was destroyed as a result.

Bowman told the judge that her husband died six months after her daughter. Although he suffered a terminal illness, Bowman said she believes her daughter's death hastened her husband's death because the two were very close.

After the hearing, Bowman said she still believes Reynolds played a role in her daughter's death, but no criminal investigation was ever conducted. An autopsy found that Mobley died of asphyxiation while heavily drugged.

Arndorfer represented all three women in their lawsuits against Reynolds. He said Reynolds is not practicing psychology in Florida, but may be working as a teacher.