Facts

Minor plaintiffs L.S., W.S., and S.S., sued the County of Santa Cruz and California Forensic Medical Group Inc., in connection with Amanda Sloan's death while being detained at the county jail.

Plaintiffs are the decedent's surviving children.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
On July 17, 2013, the decedent, a pretrial detainee, hung herself in her jail cell. Earlier on, the decedent managed to dig a large hole into the stucco wall, which exposed a pipe. She then managed to fashion a rope out of sheet strips and used it to hang herself.

Plaintiffs alleged 14th Amendment violations, deliberate indifference, Monell liability, and negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention. The jail allegedly did not have any policies in place to protect at-risk detainees, like the decedent. Plaintiffs contended that the decedent should have been closely monitored given her recent suicide threats and extremely agitated state upon learning of an imminent hearing to terminate her parental rights. Defendants allegedly failed to perform routine checks on her as the officers were supposed to.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The Medical Group denied responsibility for the decedent's death and asserted various immunities.

Damages

Sloan's surviving children sought damages for their mother's wrongful death, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

Result

The parties reached a $1.05 million settlement, which included $400,000 for L.S., $400,000 for W.S., and $250,000 for S.S. The county paid $975,000, and the Medical Group's insurer paid $75,000.

Other Information

Following settlement, the county jail announced the implementation of new suicide prevention and crisis intervention policies. FILING DATE: June 30, 2015.