SLO County settles another jail death lawsuit — over widow's objections

Feb. 6--A five-figure settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a 60-year-old man who died in San Luis Obispo County Jail is official despite the woman attempting to withdraw from the agreement late last year.

As a result, the county will pay out $41,850 to Dorothy McLaughlin, the widow of Kevin McLaughlin of San Luis Obispo.

McLaughlin, 60, died April 13, 2017, of a heart attack shortly after complaining to jail medical staff of shoulder pain and being returned his cell, where he was found unresponsive almost an hour later.

"The decedent was quoted by jail staff as saying, 'I'm clammy -- I need to go to the hospital,'" a coroner's report reads.

Dorothy McLaughlin contended in her lawsuit filed in May 2018 that her husband's treatment was unconstitutional due to "deliberate indifference" to his immediate emergency medical needs in violation to state and federal laws.

Her attorney, James McKiernan, further alleged in the lawsuit that inmates were being treated by unqualified and ill-trained medical and non-medical personnel, and their prescription medications were "ratified and rubber stamped by off-site doctors."

The case proceeded through San Luis Obispo Superior Court until Oct. 11, 2019, when McKiernan previously told The Tribune that the family initially agreed to a final settlement offer of $41,850 in a mediation session.

But before the county supervisors' Oct. 22, 2019, meeting, McLaughlin's family decided to withdraw acceptance of the offer and contacted county attorneys to let them know, but they didn't receive a response back, McKiernan previously said.

McLaughlin disputed the settlement's approval, and the county filed a motion in court requesting a judge order its enforcement.

When Superior Court Judge Ginger Garrett received an email Thursday stating that neither party would appear at that day's scheduled hearing to argue the case, she did just that.

Garrett announced in court Thursday morning that she would adopt a tentative ruling published the day before, in which she agreed with the county that McLaughlin was aware that the Oct. 11 settlement was subject to approval from the board of supervisors and the county's insurance carrier 11 days later.

But Garrett wrote in her ruling that McLaughlin and McKiernan argued "there was no binding settlement agreement between the parties on October 11, 2019, since the settlement agreement was subject to the approval of the board of supervisors on a later unspecified date."

Garrett wrote that McLaughlin's argument that there was "no binding settlement agreement" is belied by the fact that she signed the agreement on Oct. 11, 2019.

"If there was no binding agreement, as plaintiffs contend, then what was the effect of the signed agreement?" Garrett wrote.

Garrett ruled that if McLaughlin desired to have a firm deadline for approval by the board and the insurance carrier or a revocation period for the settlement, they should have specified so in their negotiated agreement.

"Eleven days is not an unreasonable amount of time for the board's approval," Garrett wrote.

McKiernan wrote in an email Thursday afternoon that his client accepts the finality of the case, and does not plan to appeal "due to the client's age and interest in closure."

However, McKiernan wrote that it appears the county's contractual language in concluding settlements "remains ambiguous and open to challenge by a party that has second thoughts, as our client did, and has the time and interest in championing the challenge."

The lawsuit alleged jail staff engaged in mental torture, abuse of power, negligence, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent training, inadequate staffing, disseminating false information, conspiracy and fraudulent record keeping.

It sought an unspecified amount of damages for loss of familial and economic support, emotional distress, and to recoup funeral and therapy expenses.

In-custody deaths in SLO County: 2012 to 2019

The following people died while in custody of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office since January 2012.

-- Jan. 5, 2012: Kevin Lee Strahl, 53. Cause of death: Hepatic failure, liver fatty change

-- Nov. 12, 2012: Joseph Morillo, 43. Cause: Cardiac arrest due to thickening of heart muscle and morbid obesity

-- Jan. 27, 2014: Rudy Silva, 35. Died in hospital care. Cause: Acute hypoxic respiratory failure, septic shock, Influenza A and staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

-- March 12, 2014: Josey Richard Meche, 28. Cause: Cardiac dysrhythmia with acute methamphetamine toxicity

-- May 30, 2014: Timothy Richard Jancowicz, 29. Cause: Respiratory arrest due to heroin toxicity

-- Jan. 11, 2015: David Thomas Osborn Sr., 63, Cause: Acute myocardial infection, Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, hyperglycemia

-- March 24, 2015: Sean Michael Alexander, 33. Cause: Microscopic encephalitis, marked pulmonary edema

-- Sept. 20, 2016: Jordan Benjamin Turner, 36. Cause: Suicide with razor blade

-- July 16, 2016: Nicole Honait Luxor, 62. Died in hospital care. Cause: Complications from gallbladder cancer

-- Jan. 22, 2017: Andrew Chaylon Holland, 36. Cause: Intrapulmonary embolism

-- April 13, 2017: Kevin Lee McLaughlin, 60. Cause: Cardiac arrhythmia due to acute chronic ischemic heart disease

-- November 27, 2017: Russell Alan Hammer, 62. Cause: Pulmonary thrombo-embolism, deep vein thrombosis

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Sept. 1, 2018: Michael Wayne Nonella, 47. Cause: Suicide by asphyxiation

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Sept. 7, 2019: Ernesto Leonard Ortiz, 56. Cause: The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office has said Ortiz's death was the result of an unspecified overdose but, as of Feb. 6, 2020, the agency has continued to deny The Tribune's request for Ortiz's coroner's report, citing an ongoing investigation.

Note: Unless otherwise stated, the place of death was San Luis Obispo County Jail.

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