Group home resident died after choking on sandwich — $850,000 settlement

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Type of action: Wrongful death

Date resolved: 1/16/2023

Verdict or settlement: Settlement

Amount: $850,000

Attorneys for plaintiff: Lee Livingston and Anthony Greene, Charlottesville

Description of case: The decedent was a 34-year-old resident of a group home with intellectual disabilities and severe autism. The decedent was well-documented as a choking and asphyxiation risk with a habit of ruminating.

On March 31, 2021, an employee of the defendant group home prepared lunch for decedent, consisting of a peanut butter sandwich on white bread sliced in half. This meal was inconsistent with decedent’s Individual Support Plan, which explicitly stated his food needed to be in bite-size pieces. The defendants argued that decedent was a food seeker and snacker that regularly ate peanut butter sandwiches without difficulty. They also asserted that decedent was independent enough that he did not need one-to-one care during mealtimes, even though his ISP required supervision during meals.

After serving decedent his lunch, the employee turned his attention to other residents and household chores and left decedent unattended. Decedent began choking on a piece of the sandwich that was lodged in his throat. In the moments that followed, the employee made several errors which delayed necessary treatment for decedent and led to his untimely death. Instead of intervening or employing emergency techniques like the Heimlich maneuver or clearing the obstruction in decedent’s airway, the employee called 911, but only after decedent had collapsed onto the floor and the employee assisted decedent up into a chair. The employee claimed that decedent was not displaying signs of choking but that he was agitated.

Then, during the 911 call, the employee had difficulty recalling basic information such as the address of the group home. The EMS operator instructed the employee to remain on the phone so the dispatcher could get critical information and provide guidance on how to assist decedent. The employee, however, hung up the phone to call his manager and inform her about the event.

EMS arrived to find decedent unresponsive, requiring immediate CPR. They also identified and extracted a large food bolus lodged in decedent’s throat. Efforts to resuscitate him continued en route to the hospital, but decedent was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The decedent was survived by his father and his sister who saw him at the group home on a regular basis. This matter was resolved for $850,000 at mediation after party depositions but before experts were designated.

Plaintiff’s counsel Lee Livingston provided case information.

[023-T-175]