A court has found that employees of an adoption company made deceptive, false, and misleading representations, including failing to properly screen the birth mother, and that the company was vicariously liable for their misconduct.
The defendants in the case of Casey et al. v. Hill et al. were Unique Adoptions, Inc., a California corporation, and Patrice Hill, who was its sole owner and a California resident. The plaintiffs, who were spouses and Missouri residents, wanted to adopt a child.
Unique’s agent told the plaintiffs that they had an adoption opportunity relating to an expectant mother living in California and presented them with an adoption facilitation agreement. In July 2015, the plaintiffs signed the agreement in Missouri, paid the $15,500 fee via wire transfer from Missouri to Unique’s California bank account, and started paying a monthly $1,255 fee to cover the mother’s expenses. Hill signed the agreement on Unique’s behalf.
From July to September 2015, Pat Boucher, alongside fellow Unique employees, served as the plaintiffs’ main contact person. Boucher was a go-between who relayed information between the plaintiffs and Hill. In September 2015, the plaintiffs started communicating directly with Hill.
The plaintiffs then found out that the mother in question was not a viable adoption opportunity and was not going to put up her child for adoption. Hill had not met the mother and had not properly screened her.
In 2016, the plaintiffs filed a suit seeking...
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