Negligent Security at a Group Home for the Mentally Disabled
Attorney Ken Halperin settled this negligent security case during mediation for $650,000.00. The decedent was a 29-year-old resident of a group home for the mentally disabled. On 11/6/99 the decedent made her way onto the roof of the building and subsequently fell off, landing in an alleyway approximately 40 feet below. The building was equipped with an alarm system that was supposed to go off if an individual attempted to gain access to the roof. On the date of the plaintiff's accident, however, the alarm never went off. A subsequent investigation revealed that the power for the alarm system had inadvertently been disengaged and therefore did not go off when plaintiff went onto the roof.
As a result of the fall plaintiff sustained blunt force injuries; a fractured left femur; and a fractured left talus. Plaintiff was taken by ambulance to Elmhurst Hospital where she underwent two operations to repair the fractured femur and talus. She remained in the Hospital heavily sedated and unable to communicate until she died of acute respiratory failure on 11/13/99.