The California Supreme Court ruled that the therapists at the University of California, Berkeley, were not negligent in failing to warn Tatiana Tarasoff that one of her patients had threatened Tarasoff because a therapist has an absolute duty to protect her patient's confidentiality.

The California Supreme Court actually ruled in 1976 that the therapists at the University of California, Berkeley, had a duty to protect Tarasoff from the dangerous behavior of their patient and that they were negligent in not warning her of the specific threat. The court recognized that the therapist's duty to protect potential victims takes precedence over their duty to maintain the confidentiality of their patient's information. This case established the legal precedent known as the Tarasoff duty to warn, which requires mental health professionals to take reasonable steps to protect individuals who are threatened by their clients.