Courtroom Success: Peggy Fonshell Ward
IADC member Peggy Fonshell Ward recently successfully defended a staff member of a residential treatment facility who had been accused of child abuse for pushing a teen resident of the facility. The young man had fallen and fractured his hip on the unit. Although he initially said that he slipped on a wet floor and repeated that assertion several times, the next day at the hospital he reported to a nurse that the staff member had deliberately pushed him. Based on the allegations of intentional acts, the staff member and the facility were separately represented.
The young man and his father sued the staff member, alleging assault and battery, with a claim for punitive damages arising from an alleged intentional delay in treatment designed to cover up the incident. The case involved an alternative and, of course, mutually exclusive premises liability claim against the facility asserting that the child had fallen on a wet floor. The child had over time given multiple versions of the incident, though each version ended with a push. Plaintiff's counsel asserted that the multiple versions were to be excused by the child's diagnosed mental illnesses. At the close of a four day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the staff member, rejecting the allegation of the push, and negating the availability of punitive damages. The jury concluded that the child had slipped on a wet floor and did award a verdict against the facility.
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