Negligence. That's when someone either does something reasonable people wouldn't do or doesn't do something they would. The key word is "reasonable." When this leads to someone being hurt - especially when the person who did (or did not) act is responsible for the injured person - this is clear cut grounds for a law suit.
Who is this reasonable person? Legally, he or she is someone who acts the way people believe someone should act when someone else is in danger.
Back in February, an 89-year-old nursing-home patient named Sarah Wentworth wandered out of her room at the Arbor of Itasca. At 2 a.m., she went out a door, triggering an alarm, and into a courtyard. She had Alzheimer's Disease and wore an electronic ankle bracelet. The temperature was near zero. Five hours later, Sarah was found in that courtyard, about 85 feet from the door, frozen to death. She had apparently fallen and been injured so she could not have walked back inside.
Heidi Leon, the 23-year-old nurse's assistant on duty, was watching television when the door alarm sounded. She turned the alarm off and returned to her show. Two weeks ago, in pleading guilty to criminal charges, Ms. Leon apologized to Sarah's three daughters and their families. She was sentenced to six months in jail - the time she'd already served - and put on probation for another 2-½ years. The daughters, while saying they believe Ms. Leon's remorse is real, felt the sentence should have been harsher. DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, however, said the sentence was the stiffest warranted by the facts of the case and the assistant's lack of a criminal record.
Those, of course, are major factors in the criminal case, where the goal is punishment, not restoring balance for people - like Sarah's family - who were injured. That the assistant was clearly negligent in terms of what a reasonable person should have done, and even further off base given her responsibility to her elderly charge, didn't figure heavily into a criminal decision. This negligence will, however, weigh heavily in the civil wrongful death case that has already been filed by Sarah's family against the Arbor. More about that in our next post.
Michael Kosner, President
The Kosner Firm Chtd.
