Hardingham was a recovering alcoholic. Defendant United Counseling Service (UCS) gave him a job as an emergency services counselor. Halpin, UCS's executive director, learned that Hardingham was again drinking. Halpin and other UCS employees went to Hardingham's home, where they found him inebriated. They saw him attempt to drink from a bottle apparently filled with windshield wiper fluid. They took the bottle away and took Hardingham to the local emergency room. Hardingham refused to take a blood test and the UCS employees neglected to tell the hospital that he had evidently been drinking wiper fluid. Because Hardingham refused to cooperate with hospital employees, the police took him to a correctional center. Overnight, Hardingham suffered severe distress and the police returned him to the hospital. Tests revealed methyl alcohol in his blood, apparently from the wiper fluid. The substance left Hardingham with permanent injuries, including blindness. He sued UCS and its employees under 12 V.S. A. §519.

Questions:

1. Did the defendants' conduct constitute ordinary negligence, meaning they are not liable under §519(b), or gross negligence, meaning they are liable?

2. Had his rescuers spent a few moments advising emergency room personnel that Hardingham had drunk windshield washer fluid, they might have saved him from blindness and other serious injuries. Why doesn’t the court hold them liable for their failure to perform such a simple act?

3. Is this gross negligence?