Jurisdiction: Essex Superior Court, Lawrence, MA
This matter involved a 25 year old developmentally disabled adult who had been allegedly abused while a resident at a Life Links facility, a group home setting.
The plaintiff had testified through his psychiatrist and through his parents that he was not prone to violent outbursts and had been relatively stable for a number of years until he became a resident at the Life Links facility.
The allegations were that as a result of systematic abuse by two of the Life Links employees, that he had become violent and as a result fled the Life Links house one evening and sustained substantial injuries to his lower extremities when hit by a car. The injuries were multiple fractures which resulted in substantial impairment in the use of one of his legs.
The defense was able to develop through a series of records from the plaintiff's history of institutionalization that he had demonstrated violent tendencies repeatedly and regularly over a long period of time. The plaintiff’s parents attempted to distinguish this past conduct and claimed that it was different from that he was now exhibiting. They alleged that the conduct that he was now exhibiting was due to systematic abuse and further and further caused him run out of the group home on the night he sustained his serious orthopedic injuries.
The defense was able to establish that the discipline instituted by Life Links and its two employees was appropriate and within the bounds of reasonableness. Several attempts were made to safeguard the patient and keep him from harming himself prior to the day of his accident.
As a result the jury found in favor of the defendant individual employees and against Life Links and returned a verdict for approximately $40,000.00 with interest, the medical costs incurred.
Given allegations of abuse the case had potential verdict in excess of one million dollars if a jury were to conclude that this developmentally disabled adult was being systematically and regularly abused. Accordingly, plaintiff's demand right up until the time of the verdict was 1.2 million dollars.
