Tylo ordered to pay therapist in excess of $800,000
by Dan J Kroll
Posted Wednesday, October 20, 2010 11:53:11 PM


Hunter Tylo has been ordered to pay more than $880,000 to a former therapist. A Nevada judge ruled that Tylo's claims that therapist Shanna Downing was negligent in her duties were unfounded. Tylo is also being sued by her former manager, security guards, and lawyers, in a separate lawsuit.


A Las Vegas judge has ordered The Bold and the Beautiful's Hunter Tylo (Taylor Forrester) to pay $884,983 in damages to a psychotherapist whom Tylo had previously sued for negligent treatment of her children.


Shanna Downing, a licensed clinical social worker for the Horizon Family Therapy & Wellness Center, counseled Tylo's children while Tylo and her then-husband, actor Michael Tylo, were going through a divorce.


Tylo sued Downing in April 2006, alleging violations of professional ethics. In a televised interview with Larry King, Tylo referred to Downing's treatment of her family as "a disaster." A subsequent lawsuit also claimed that Downing urged Tylo's son, Michael Edward Tylo, to stop taking his seizure medication, which ultimately caused Michael to suffer a seizure and drown in the family's pool. In court documents filed in Clark County, Tylo claimed that Downing told the Tylo family that Michael's seizures were "due to the stress he was experiencing due to his parents break-up [and] once the stress was eliminated... his seizures would disappear."


On.Point.com, which first reported the judgment against Tylo, reported that "[a]wards for abuse of process, a tort that is similar to malicious prosecution, are rare."


Downing had alleged that Tylo sued her has payback for her refusal to testify on Tylo's behalf in divorce proceedings.


"[Tylo] can produce no evidence that Downing was negligent in any respect in her care and treatment of any member of the Tylo family," Clark County District Court Judge Timothy C. Williams said in a September 21 order.


Williams also found that Tylo could not produce evidence that Downing had defamed anyone in the Tylo family, planted false memories into any member of the Tylo family, or breeched any contract with the family. The judge also found that the B&B actress "attempted to suborn perjury" from Downing.


After the verdict, Tylo was ordered to pay $700,000 in noneconomic damages, $158,104 for Downing's attorney fees, and $26,879 in special damages.


Tylo's children, Christopher M. Tylo; Michael Tylo, Jr.; Izabella Tylo; and Katya Tylo were also listed as plaintiffs/counterdefendants in the case.


In related legal woes for Tylo, the actress is also being sued by her former manager, security firm, and lawyers, who claim that the actress owes them in excess of $250,000.


The Bold and the Beautiful does not comment on personal matters.

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Related Information
About The Actor: Learn more about Hunter Tylo. Who's Who: Read a biography of Taylor Forrester. More Archived News: Review more past B&B news headlines. News and More: Return to soapcentral.com's B&B FrontPage.