As has been previously reported by Law Street, the so-called Troubled Teen Industry, residential mental healthcare facilities that cater to minors, usually teenagers, is the subject of much litigative controversy. While the previous article examined efforts to force health insurers to cover plaintiffs’ children’s stay at such centers, this article delves into the suits these residential treatment centers (RTCs) have faced since 2019.
Federal
Child Abuse
In the past four-and-a-half years, the federal judiciary has seen fifty cases concerning teenage RTCs. Of these, thirty concern allegations of child abuse as described in the complaints. Five of these suits were brought by insurance companies who defended RTCs in court against these allegations and want compensation. Of these, three were settled, one is ongoing, and in the remainder, the judge ruled in favor of the RTC.
More broadly, RTCs defending cases concerning child abuse have settled nine cases, had a judge rule in their favor in seven cases, and had a judge rule against them in three. Seven cases are ongoing. Of note, in two cases, the judge ruled against the plaintiff due to statutes of limitations; judges who have ruled in favor of the RTCs have done so exclusively on procedural grounds.
Wrongful Death
Three suits, though one is a refiling of a voluntarily dismissed suit, allege wrongful death. Goshay v. Lakeside for Children et al. concerns the alleged wrongful death of Cornelius Frederick, an orphan ward of the state of Michigan housed at Lakeside Academy. Goshay, the legal representative of Frederick’s estate, alleges that staff at Lakeside Academy suffocated Frederick on three separate instances over the course of weeks, with the third leading to his death. The complaint further details that multiple state officials have expressed concerns over the unconstitutional treatment of individuals residing at Sequel RTCs; Sequel is the parent company of Lakeside Academy. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Goodridge et al v. Diamond Ranch Academy et al. concerns the alleged wrongful death of Taylor Goodridge. Dean Goodridge, the deceased’s mother, alleges that staff at Diamond Ranch Academy ignored her daughter’s complaints of not feeling well. According to the complaint, on November 22, 2022, Taylor Goodridge began to experience extreme abdominal pain, which was ignored by staff. At one point, she collapsed in her vomit, yet staff told her to “suck it up.” She died of sepsis the following month. This case is on its way to trial.
Other claims of note
The case of J.E.B. v. Hill et al began in Travis County District Court in Texas but was later transferred to the Western District of Texas. The plaintiff, J.E.B., as the father of F.C.B., his minor son, sued Shiloh Treatment Center alleging the RTC abused his son. According to the complaint, F.C.B. was sent to Shiloh after being separated from his father, an asylum-seeking migrant from Guatemala, under Trump Administration policy. The case was settled out of court.
Of particular note, plaintiffs in six of these child abuse suits alleged that the RTC made false representations of offering residents evidence-based practice, i.e. offering treatments developed and validated using scientific studies. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, a commonly marketed treatment at these RTCs, is a trademarked term, though the trademark is rarely enforced.
Labor Litigation
Since 2019, five individuals have brought suits alleging various kinds of workplace discrimination from racial to sexual to disability. These suits were largely settled.
The industry has had four different proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board. Three cases concerned alleged unfair labor practices, and the fourth was a union election. Of the unfair labor practice cases, one was settled, in one the employee voluntarily dismissed their case, and in the last, the NLRB ruled in favor of the RTC. Regarding the union election, staff at Ironwood Maine voted 24-14 against forming a union.
State Courts
State court records are far less accessible than federal court records, and public access varies wildly from state to state. As such, the following should be considered more as a sampling of the litigation brought at the state level rather than an accounting of the big picture.
Among the 175 cases Docket Alarm has access to, forty-nine had court documents available such that the cases could be determined to be about child abuse. However, as previously stated, access to court documents varies wildly from state to state. Thus a second count was conducted using more liberal criteria. Several states list case type codes that could potentially imply the allegations in said case are child abuse. For example, Missouri lists twenty-seven cases against Agapé Boarding School as being about “CC Pers Injury-Other,” and Pennsylvania lists some cases as having the type “General Docket; Intentional Tort.” Counting all these cases, ninety cases of the 175 concern alleged child abuse, in various forms.
New York and the Child Victims Act
On February 14, 2019, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Child Victims Act, which extended the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault cases. For criminal misdemeanor cases, the statute of limitations was extended from the child’s twentieth birthday to their twenty-fifth. For felony cases, the statute of limitations was extended from the child’s twenty-third birthday to their twenty-eighth. And for civil cases, the statute of limitations was extended from the child’s twenty-third birthday to their fifty-fifth. Additionally, claimants who previously missed their opportunity to sue for alleged childhood sexual assault were given a one-year grace period to bring their suits.
As a result, twenty-eight cases have been filed in various New York state courts against Green Chimneys, all alleging sexual abuse while the plaintiff was a resident at the center. These cases make up 75% of all cases involving the Troubled Teen Industry in New York state courts.
Zoning Disputes in Connecticut
In 2019, Newport Academy purchased two properties in Fairfield, Connecticut intending to open an RTC there. However, the two lots fall within a AAA Residence Zone, which, according to Fairfield zoning regulations, only permits “a single detached home for one family.” Lots must also cover a minimum of two acres.
Newport Academy then applied for building permits to renovate the homes located on the properties into group homes. The permits were approved and the Connecticut Superior Court upheld the Zoning Board’s ruling after neighbors sued to stop the project.
While litigation surrounding the building permits was pending, Newport Academy applied for Certificates of Need and Certificates of Occupancy, permits that would allow them to operate a residential mental healthcare facility. Fairfield granted the former but not the latter. In a letter dated November 2020, Town Attorney James T. Baldwin stated that per the applications for Certificates of Need, these facilities would not be group homes but rather mental healthcare facilities, and thus Newport would need to file an application for an exception to the local zoning regulations. Instead of applying for said exception, Newport sued the Fairfield Zoning Authority.
Newport and the Town of Fairfield settled the zoning dispute in February 2022. Newport would be allowed to convert the properties into “group homes,” and the Town of Fairfield would pay Newport $1.5 million in damages. The Town also agreed to defend this determination should it be challenged in court; it was promptly challenged by the same group of neighbors who challenged the building permits.
On March 6, 2024, the Connecticut Superior Court, Bridgeport division ruled against Newport Academy and the Zoning Authority. In short, the court ruled that Newport Academy had unfairly bypassed the mandatory zoning process and remanded the matter to the Fairfield Zoning Authority to determine whether the premises are group homes or mental healthcare facilities. Both Newport and the Town appealed to the state appellate court.
Agapé Boarding School
Since 2019, the Agapé Boarding School, owned and operated by the Agapé Baptist Church has defended thirty-five suits, mostly brought by minor plaintiffs; however, eight of those cases were double-counted as they were transferred from one county circuit court to another. Unfortunately, Missouri court records are not publicly available; however, all the cases brought by minors have the type code “CC Pers Injury-Other,” and the complaint for State of Missouri ex et al v Agape Baptist Church, which is available on unsilenced.org, details patterns of child abuse. Thus it can be inferred that these suits likely concern child abuse. The aforementioned suit brought by the state was voluntarily dismissed.
RTC Closures
Within the past two years, there have been a few notable victories from the so-called survivor community. In June 2022, a lawsuit brought by a number of survivors of Vista treatment centers closed down the RTC chain. According to an interview with the lead attorney, the plaintiffs also received small settlements.
In August 2024, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services declined to renew Maple Lake Academy’s license, citing copious reports of abuse. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Maple Lake Academy will appeal this decision, for if it stands, they will be forced to close.
In June 2024, the Halifax Circuit Court recently issued a default judgment against Southstone Behavioral Health for $2.5 million.
And in August 2024, Evoke Therapy announced on Facebook that they would be closing their doors. No definitive reason was given.
