Johns Hopkins All Children’s seeks to narrow ‘Netflix’ lawsuit

 St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is asking a Florida judge to throw out most of Maya Kowalski’s remaining claims ahead of a retrial in the lawsuit made famous by the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”

In a late October reply filed in Sarasota County Circuit Court, the hospital backed its July 25 motion for partial summary judgment. It argued that Florida’s Chapter 39 child-protection immunity and an October 2025 appellate ruling leave Ms. Kowalski with virtually no viable claims. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal overturned the family’s $213 million judgment and ordered a new trial on the remaining counts.

The motion targets Ms. Kowalski’s claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, medical negligence, a battery claim tied to the photography session and false imprisonment. The false imprisonment claims stem from a roughly 48-hour stay in an EEG monitoring room and a January 2017 photography session. The only claim the hospital doesn’t challenge is a battery count over hugging and kissing by a social worker assigned to her.

The hospital argued that the challenged claims are “inextricably intertwined” with conduct the statute protects.

In an Oct. 5 response, Ms. Kowalski’s attorneys argued that the immunity covers only good-faith participation in specific acts authorized by Chapter 39, not her entire three-month hospitalization. They said disputed facts, including the hospital’s deletion of the original EEG room recording, require a jury.

The hospital’s reply also argued the case now exists mainly to benefit third-party financiers, citing a $42 million nonrecourse loan the family obtained before the appellate ruling. It said Ms. Kowalski “has had her day in court.”

A hospital spokesperson declined to comment beyond the filing. Becker’s has reached out to Ms. Kowalski’s attorneys.

The case dates to 2016, when Ms. Kowalski, then 10, was removed by the state and sheltered at the hospital for three months on suspicion that her mother, Beata Kowalski, was medically abusing her. Beata Kowalski died by suicide while her daughter was hospitalized.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/digital-marketing/johns-hopkins-all-childrens-seeks-to-narrow-netflix-lawsuit/