U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Monday dismissed Wellpath LLC as a defendant because of a ruling from a bankruptcy court but found that six of the healthcare company's employees, as well as Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry L. McFadden, must face the suit alleging that they violated the constitutional and civil rights of the man who suffered and died from a stroke.
The healthcare provider and sheriff's office were hit with a lawsuit by Lessie Thomas, the mother of Jamil Stafford, who died inside the jail. Judge Bell noted that while he was allowing portions of the suit to move forward, the family had a "a steep uphill climb" to prove claims that healthcare providers of the sheriff's office negligently delayed stroke treatments.
The lawsuit filed in August 2024 claimed that Wellpath was primarily responsible for the lack of care provided to Stafford and for not taking his symptoms seriously. Wellpath is a contractor that provides healthcare services to jail and prison facilities and was contracted with the Mecklenburg County Jail while Stafford was held there.
Wellpath, however, declared bankruptcy three months after Thomas' lawsuit was filed, and after emerging from bankruptcy this year was granted an order in June freeing the company from any legal claims against it, Monday's order said.
Thomas alleged that Wellpath has insurance coverage that could be used to pay damages, but both Wellpath and Judge Bell have said there is no evidence that the policy exists, apart from a "fronting" policy under which Wellmark retained all the risk.
"Although the court understands plaintiff's disappointment in having to dismiss the entity who she most prominently blames for Stafford's alleged mistreatment, the court cannot ignore the law and permit her to pursue discovery (and thereby impose costs on Wellpath in violation of the bankruptcy orders) without some plausible allegation that there are in fact insurance proceeds available," Judge Bell said in the order. "That is, a lawsuit cannot just be the means to pursue a fishing expedition into a potential claim."
Judge Bell found that in addition to Wellpath being freed from the lawsuit, claims against several employees should also be dismissed, finding that they did not meet the federal threshold for violating Stafford's Eighth and Fourteenth amendment rights because of his medical care.
The order found that an incarcerated person's rights to adequate medical care are violated when officials display a "deliberate indifference" to the person when administering care. The standard rises above simple medical malpractice, requiring proof that the medical staff knew a medical condition existed and chose not to respond.
Six Wellpath employees who were directly involved in treating Stafford for a potential stroke were identified by the order as having met the deliberate indifference standard, and the lawsuit will be allowed to continue against those employees, the order said.
Sheriff McFadden will also continue to face civil rights claims, with the order finding that there is a plausible case to continue claims that he violated a federal civil rights law, known as Section 1983, by failing to correctly supervise Wellpath in the jail facility under his control.
Judge Bell found that while the civil rights claims against Sheriff McFadden could be substantiated, claims that he was negligent for hiring Wellpath to begin with should be tossed, as they are covered under a state public immunity law.
McFadden claimed that under the state law he could not be sued for failing to consider Wellpath's documented history of poor healthcare coverage at other facilities and that a decision to bring Wellpath to the Mecklenburg County Jail does not meet the high bar for overcoming immunity, the opinion said.
Spokespeople for both the Mecklenburg County sheriff and Wellpath LLC declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Thomas did not respond to a request for comment.
Thomas is represented by Hannah Morgan Daigle and Jeremy M. Wilson of Ward & Smith PA.
McFadden is represented by J. George Guise of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office and Sean F. Perrin and Emmett James Whelan of Womble Bond Dickinson.
Wellpath LLC and its employees are represented by Jennifer Bryant Milak of Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham LLP.
The case is Thomas v. McFadden et al., case number 3:24-cv-00716, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
--Editing by Rich Mills.
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