A non-custodial father who was unaware his son would be whisked off to Utah for a month of strenuous hiking at a therapeutic wilderness camp has had his claims against the camp and the transport service dismissed. But Eastern District Judge Joseph Bianco (See Profile) allowed the son to proceed with claims of assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In addressing the claims of Kenneth Decter, who did not know his ex-wife had signed up their son for the Second Nature Therapeutic Program, Bianco said in Decter v. Second Nature Therapeutic Program, 13-cv-3519, that a “non-custodial parent has no cause of action against a third party where the custodial parent consented to the custody by the third party. To hold otherwise would create a novel claim under New York law that would potentially create liability to various institutions— such as schools, camps and day-care centers—who are caught in the middle of a marital dispute over visitation rights involving the child.”
