It’s taken three years but the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services now faces a $27 million lawsuit for allegedly dropping the ball on this one … the victim was a blind, disabled teenager.
Police say that in October of 2012, emergency responders arrived at a home in North Bend, Washington to investigate April and Jeff Henderson; a couple who was supposedly caring for then 19-year-old Heather Curtis. Detectives say they found Heather Curtis in a room with a bunk bed, lying on the mattress with only a light blanket to cover her. Among the dirty diapers, feces, garbage, smell and flies milling about was Heather; naked except for a very soiled diaper. Investigators say they originally thought Heather was a child of 7 or 8 years old because she was extremely malnourished, emaciated and writhing in pain. Heather Curtis is blind, has spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. Her teeth had decayed to the point where she, after being removed from the home, required 19 root canals. At the time of her rescue she weighted only 68 pounds.
“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was one of the most horrible things I’d ever seen,” said King County Detective Belinda Paredes-Garrett. “She was wailing and moaning a sound I’ve never ever heard and the only thing I could compare it to would be a wounded animal.”
Court documents indicate that Heather Curtis was 10 years old when her caregiver died. Jeff and April Henderson then took her in and were paid by the Department of Social and Health Services to care for the disabled child. It was in 2003 — after the Hendersons took Heather Curtis into their home — that the DSHS received complaints of negligence. In 2004, according to state documents, Heather’s teachers noted that she wasn’t bathed and would come to school smelling of feces and urine. She had bad sores and would often come to school without a coat. The following year, more and similar reports were filed by educators and then later, in 2009, teachers formally claimed that Heather was being mistreated; the child was always dirty (with feces on her bottom, especially) and her hair missing. The child was missing a lot of school and by 2010; she was no longer in school.
The state of Washington’s King county Department of Social and Health Services’ records show that for the next couple of years, employees paid an occasional — previously announced — visit to the Henderson home but never went into Heather’s bedroom. On October 17, 2012, April Henderson took Heather Curtis to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where a nurse documented a number of concerns. The complaint was sent to Adult Protective Services and on October 25th, police and firefighters removed Heather from the Hendersons’ home.
Heather Curtis’ new guardian and their attorney, David P. Moody, have filed a $27 million lawsuit against DSHS for failing to supervise the Hendersons’ care of the disabled child. They claim that DSHS didn’t require the Hendersons to go through training and social workers did not investigate neglect complaints. The Hendersons, who, according to police, were living a rather lavish lifestyle, received $4,000 a month from the DSHS for Heather’s care. The couple pleaded guilty to 2nd degree criminal mistreatment and received a nine month sentence of home detention.
If Heather wins her case, the multi-million dollar payout — or some type for settlement — would ensure private care for rest of her life. King County detective Belinda Paredes-Garrett visited Heather nine months after the rescue, saying that the young woman had gained weight and was back in school. It was in 2013, two months after Heather was rescued, that the DSHS enacted an automated database to better track complaints. The department says it has also increased its investigation staff.
Here’s the story from King5 News in Seattle.
Jessica Ryburn, his mother, filed a lawsuit against the Giddings Independent School District. The lawsuit made the accusation that other student athletes were similarly injured in the past. However, this accusation has proven difficult to verify because the school district doesn’t have records of all sports injuries. The state does not require school districts to track all student athlete sports injuries. Due to the lack of records, the Giddings Independent School District refused to respond to Ryburn’s lawsuit.
Cox entered the hospital on June 25th with a swollen upper lip. According to the suit, her vitals were normal and nothing about her seemed out of the ordinary at the time. The doctor diagnosing her at the time, Dr. Jonathan Severy, ordered the nurses to give Cox .3 milligrams of epinephrine through an injection. However, the suit alleges that the nurse, Susan B. Edwards, administered 3 milligrams of the drug, ten times the amount, through an IV instead.
The deputies then claim he pulled forward and began to reverse again. Nine of the deputies opened fire, shooting 61 shots. He was killed instantly.
Even though the request bothered Eason, he went ahead and prepaid for his breakfast as he was asked. However, later that day he returned to the restaurant in Vancouver to inquire about this policy that seemed so discriminatory. While he was there, he spotted a white couple seated and eating their meal and asked if they had been required to pay for their meal in advance. The couple questioned by Elson were amazed that someone would expect that they would have to prepay, according to Kafoury. Soon after, Elson, who is also a real estate agent in the Vancouver area, filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and is seeking $100,000 in compensation for what he has been through.
Just last week on the 23rd of October, a class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court against the Apple computer corporation. In the case entitled, Phillips v. Apple Inc., the plaintiffs claim that Apple failed to do its due diligence in advising their customers that the i0S9 contains a feature by default which is called “Wi-Fi Assist,” and that this feature will automatically and without warning cause the devices to switch over to consuming mobile data.
The Incident
Most of the $3 million settlement was covered by Manhattan Beach’s risk management group policy, while the city itself paid $500,000 toward these costs. Following Goodbody’s injuries, the city took steps to limit the risk of further incidents, such as covering flying golf disc baskets during busy times at the park or when special events took place. However, a second incident occurred in 2013 when a 6-year-old boy was hit in the head by a flying golf disc, leading to life-threatening brain injuries and another lawsuit filed against the city. In 2014, City Council officials decided to close down the flying golf disc course for an indefinite period of time.