Arizona Supreme Court Abolishes the McGill Four-Prong Test to Establish what Constitutes an Actionable Claim for Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult and Adopts New Four-Prong Test

On June 20, 2017, in the in the matter of Marika Delgado et al. v. Manor Care of Tucson et al.  the Arizona Supreme Court abolished the previous McGill four-part test to establish what constitutes an actionable claim for a vulnerable adult under Arizona law, Adult Protective Services Act (APSA), A.R.S. §§ 46-451 through -459.  The Supreme Court held that such a claim requires only proof that: 1) a vulnerable adult, (2) has suffered an injury, (3) caused by abuse, (4) from a caregiver.  Previously, the four-part test adopted in McGill provided that to be actionable abuse under APSA, the negligent act or acts (1) must arise from the relationship of caregiver and recipient, (2) must be closely connected to that relationship, (3) must be linked to the service the caregiver undertook because of the recipient’s incapacity, and (4) must be related to the problem or problems that caused the incapacity. In reaching its conclusion, the Arizona Supreme Court held that the McGill test has proved problematic, and the last two criteria are outside the scope of the APSA statutory language.  With the ruling yesterday,  the Arizona Supreme Court has made clear that an actionable APSA abuse claim requires proof of the four basic elements set forth in the statute alone, which may make it easier for lawsuits to be brought under the APSA on behalf of vulnerable adults, or their estates.