William Coppol
PHILADELPHIA – A home for special-needs adults is alleged in a lawsuit to have lost track of a resident who rushed to the kitchen and threw a pot of boiling water on herself and others.
A plaintiff known as S.L.W. has sued Resources of Human Development and its Mainstay Delaware facility, where it is alleged staff allowed her to escae the bathroom to make a break for the kitchen.
The plaintiff, who was 26 years old at the time, required constant supervision and assistance, the suit says, but on April 10, 2024, that didn’t happen.
“(S)he was negligently, carelessly and recklessly supervised, permitting S.L.W. to elope from her room (specifically her bathroom/bathtub/shower area) and run into the kitchen and purportedly grab a boiling hot pot of water off of the stove and throw it on herself and others…” says the suit, filed last month in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and since removed to federal court.
S.L.W. suffered burns to her face, neck, chest and shoulders, causing “catastrophic” injuries, the suit says. The burns were second- and third-degree and the result of a failure to implement policies regarding safety around hot water, the suit says.
S.L.W. was life-flighted to Christiana Care Newark for a trauma evaluation. An emergency room doctor in Middletown, Del., wrote in notes, “There is concern for caregiver neglect/abuse.”
At a burn center for nearly a month, S.L.W. racked up $1.9 million in medical bills, the suit says. It also seeks compensation for emotional and psychological distress and future medical bills.
Among the many safety claims made in the suit is that RHD failed to install door chimes despite S.L.W.’s previous escape efforts.
Willliam Coppol of Groen Strokoff O’Neill represents the plaintiff.
