Farmington mom files $100M lawsuit against psychiatric facility after son, 9, assaulted

A Farmington mom whose 9-year-old boy was assaulted at an inpatient psychiatric facility in Westland for children and adolescents has filed a $100 million lawsuit, alleging staff members at the state-run hospital were reckless and negligent in allowing her son to be attacked.

The child was at the Hawthorn Center at the Walter P. Reuther Psychiatric Hospital, receiving psychiatric treatment for about a month when another patient chased him and stomped him on the head for several seconds with her foot on Oct. 18, 2023. The lawsuit, which names four employees, was filed Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

"They let this boy lay on the ground and get beat six ways to Sunday. They did absolutely nothing," said Arnold Reed, an attorney for the boy's mom.

Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said one employee involved in this incident was dismissed, one resigned and one was suspended. She declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services takes the health and safety of our patients very seriously," Sutfin said. "An investigation involving an incident on Oct. 18, 2023, was completed by the State Hospital Administration and Office of Recipient Rights."

An employee at the center opened the door separating the 9-year-old from a 15-year-old girl who had been threatening him, according to the lawsuit. Just minutes before the attack, a video of the incident shows employees stepping on the boy's fingers as he stuck them underneath a locked door. The 15-year-old girl joins in, said Reed.

The video from the center shows the employee talking to the boy before the attack. There's no audio, but Reed said she is saying something along the lines of "you want to fight her? She wants to f--- you up." Then she opens the door.

The video shows the boy running down the hallway as the 15-year-old girl chases him, and he falls to the ground next to a closed door.

The girl then stomps on his head and continues uninterrupted for about six seconds until an employee runs up and pulls her off of him. The employee who opened the door walks up seconds later and helps the other woman restrain the girl and walk her away from the boy.

The video shows the boy as he tries to pull himself up multiple times, but falls back to the ground. Reed said the boy was injured very badly. He said his tooth was knocked into his gums and he has some brain issues.

"He lies on the ground, she begins to stomp on him," said Reed. "That was initiated by the staff members there."

Other employees took no action to prevent the employee from opening the door or to stop the teen from assaulting the 9-year-old, according to the lawsuit. Reed noted that he does not believe this was the 15-year-old's fault, as she was a patient at the center as well.

"Defendant Employees' conduct was so reckless that it demonstrated a substantial lack of concern for whether Plaintiff would be injured," according to the lawsuit.

Reed said people send their children to places such as Hawthorn for them to be safe and to get mental health treatment. They deserve better than being put in a fight club, he said.

The Hawthorn Center was also sued last year by employees and families of children housed there in connection with an unannounced active shooter drill that left them traumatized.

Sen. Michael Webber, R-Rochester Hills, wrote in a Detroit News opinion piece in September that he was concerned about the stories he's heard from families with children at the center. He requested the state Office of the Auditor General and Senate leaders investigate the facility.

kberg@detroitnews.com