Court overturns $213 million ‘Maya trial’ verdict

In what attorneys for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital are calling a “resounding” decision, an appeals court has overturned a civil jury’s verdict in the Maya Kowalski case. 

Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeals vacated the entire $213 million judgment against the St. Petersburg-based hospital Wednesday. Netflix’s 2023 Take Care of Maya documentary chronicled the Kowalski family’s plight. 

In a 48-page ruling, the court outlined how evidence and testimony presented in the civil trial did not support a Sarasota jury’s verdict. All Children’s attorney Ethan Shapiro of law firm Hill Ward Henderson celebrated a “careful, rigorous review of the case and law” Wednesday afternoon. 

“This opinion sends a clear and vital message to mandatory reporters in Florida and across the country that their duty to report suspicions of child abuse and, critically, their good faith participation in child protection activities remain protected,” Shapiro said in a prepared statement. 

“We thank the judges for their time and attention to this matter, and we appreciate that they understood what many did not: That a one-sided movie is no substitute for a fair judicial process.” 

The appellate judges ruled that All Children’s actions did not contribute to the 2017 suicide of Beata Kowalski. Several doctors suspected that she had medically abused her daughter, Maya, primarily by securing and administering high doses of various medications, including the dissociative anesthetic Ketamine.  

In October 2016, the state ordered All Children’s to shelter Maya, then 10, due to suspected child abuse. Beata, then 43, hung herself in the family’s Venice garage after 87 days without her daughter.

Beata Kowalski (right) with her daughter Maya. Screengrab.

Florida statutes grant mandatory child abuse reporters immunity from “any civil or criminal liability” if they act in good faith, even if those suspicions prove unfounded. The appellate judges said the lower court did not fully provide those protections. 

Their ruling cited an amicus brief filed by the Florida Hospital Association for further explanation. It notes that the trial court found that All Children’s had a reasonable basis for suspecting child abuse and was not liable for sheltering Maya as ordered.

However, those findings were “rendered meaningless” when a civil judge allowed the prosecution to attack the hospital’s “basis for suspecting abuse, its motives for reporting that suspicion and present evidence to the jury of the psychological impact of the court-ordered sheltering period.” 

“Nothing in the record suggests that (the hospital’s) participation in implementing the dependency court orders, as it was required to do, was not done in good faith,” the ruling added. 

The appellate court also disagreed with Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll’s refusal to offer All Children’s a new trial. A court in the Kowalski’s home county decided the lawsuit after the release of Take Care of Maya; the film tallied nearly 14 million streams in the first two weeks. 

Carroll’s denial was an “abuse of discretion,” and an appellate court “should consider the totality of all errors and improprieties,” states the ruling. The judges also disputed his decision to let a jury decide the entire lawsuit rather than provide direct verdicts on some counts.  

However, the appellate court’s ruling does not completely absolve All Children’s. The Kowalskis can seek a retrial to determine whether the hospital intentionally inflicted emotional distress, falsely imprisoned, battered and was medically negligent in its treatment of Maya. 

Tampa-based Hill Ward Henderson wrote that those claims must undergo a thorough examination of Chapter 39 immunity. In addition, the Kowalkis cannot pursue punitive damages, as the appellate court “found that there is insufficient evidence to do so on any of the remaining claims.” 

“The facts and the law have always prioritized protecting children, the most vulnerable among us,” Shapiro said. “We look forward to vigorously defending our doctors, nurses and staff in a fair trial on the few remaining claims after rigorous and proper application of immunity.” 

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital’s downtown St. Petersburg campus. Photo by Mark Parker.

The court also published a concurrent opinion from Judge Andrea Teves Smith, who admonished social worker Catherine Bedy. Smith noted that Bedy told Maya she could replace her mentally ill mother.

Smith also chastised “the berating by the nurses that Maya was faking her symptoms.” A specialist had diagnosed the girl with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS); symptoms include spontaneous and debilitating pain, muscle wasting and impaired movement. 

Smith wrote that Maya went to All Children’s for treatment, “only to be broken down, mentally abused and berated by Ms. Bedy and the hospital nurses who were in a position to facilitate her care.” 

“Based upon Maya’s mental and physical condition, Ms. Bedy and the nurses acted in deliberate disregard for the high degree of probability that emotional distress would follow,” Smith continued. “It is hard to imagine a civilized community that accepts the actions of Ms. Bedy, a licensed social worker, and the nurses as ‘good faith’ participation in the requirements of Chapter 39.” 

The Kowalskis fought for five years to bring their case to trial. A jury sided with the family on every count and awarded $261 million in damages, which Carroll later reduced by $50 million. 

An attorney for the Kowalskis could not immediately be reached for comment. All Children’s deferred to its legal team. 

At a private event in January 2024, roughly two months after the judgment, hospital CEO K. Alicia Schulhof addressed the “elephant in the room.” 

“What I want you to know is how proud I am – and, I hope, how proud you all can be – for having providers that stand up for the most vulnerable kids,” Schulhof said. “They have a duty and a responsibility, and, frankly, their license is on the line if they don’t report suspected child abuse and neglect.

“They followed the law, and they did the right thing.”