Andy Rogers and Naveen Ramachandrappa. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

A Cobb County jury delivered a post-apportioned award of $5 million to a girl who was sexually assaulted at a Kennesaw behavioral health center, then tacked on $50 million in punitive damages in a move that will likely challenge the state's $250,000 punitive damages cap.

The jury also said the owner of the Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health facility must pay the plaintiffs attorney fees and expenses. That figure is still to be decided, said plaintiffs attorney Andrew Rogers, who tried the case with Deitch & Rogers colleague Kara Phillips and Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore partner Naveen Ramachandrappa.

Ramachandrappa said that, once State Court Judge Maria Golick rules on the fees and enters a judgment, he will file a motion to have Georgia's punitive damage cap declared unconstitutional.

Ramachandrappa said he is basing much of his argument on the Georgia Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery v. Nestlehutt, which declared statutory limits on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases to be unconstitutional.

"We're going to ask the court to hold that the punitive damage cap cannot be constitutionally sound, because, under the Georgia Constitution, the issue of punitive damages is one for the jury to decide, not the Legislature."

"Nestlehutt is definitely part of the reasoning, because it really focuses into this same analysis," Ramachandrappa said.

Hawkins Parnell & Young partner Matthew Barr, who represents Devereux, said he did not have permission to comment on the case.

The young woman, who is not being named because she is a sexual assault victim, was 15 years old when the incident occurred.

Rogers said the victim, now 23, suffered "multiple sexual traumas" after first being abused at the age of 8 by a family member and has had "a really rough time" before and after the incident.

"She's been in and out of several mental health facilities," said Rogers, and is still under the care of a court-appointed conservator "to make sure she had help taking care of the money."

The girl was admitted to Devereux for treatment of a number of mental health issues, including sexual behavior disorder, "a common occurrence with children who have been sexually traumatized," Rogers said.

Devereux, which operates 12 facilities around the country, offers specialized treatment for such disorders.

Rogers said the girl was assigned to a group cottage with six other girls when the incident occurred.

"They had specific policies concerning ratios and gender as it relates to staffing," Rogers said.

"In an all-female cottage, there was always to be at least one female staff member present when the girls were there. If a male was assigned to any duty, a female staff member was supposed to be there."

On the day in question, a female staffer was present along with Jimmy Singleterry, a 40-year-old direct care professional.

"The shift started at 3 p.m., and there was testimony that they were short-staffed on females," Rogers said. Singleterry had been there about six months, "and there was testimony that he was 'unseasoned.'"

During his shift, Singleterry began having "inappropriate sexual conversations" with the girl. During a break, he went outside and contacted the girl through her bedroom window.

The shift ended at 11 p.m., but the female staffer left at about 10:30 p.m.

Singleterry then entered the underage girl's room and had sex with her, court filings said. The girl reported the incident to another staff member a couple of days later.

Singleterry was arrested and is currently serving a 20-year sentence at Walker State Prison in Rock Spring, Georgia, on charges of child molestation, statutory rape and sexual assault against a person in custody, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website.

Rogers said that, after the attack, Devereux "investigated and reported it, but they really did nothing to acknowledge that she had been assaulted by one of their staff people. They didn't apologize and really acted like nothing had happened."

The girl stayed at Devereux another six weeks before she was removed, Rogers said.

In 2012, the girl's mother retained counsel to represent her daughter.

"We requested (her) entire record in July 2012; we didn't receive them until November 2014," Rogers said.

"We tried to discuss settlements on and off for a few years," Rogers said, before filing suit in Cobb County State Court in 2017.

"They filed an answer and denied everything," he said.

"We started looking and found police reports, stuff on the internet—clear evidence that this sort of thing had been happening in Devereux facilities across the country," Rogers said.

Devereux ultimately admitted it breached a duty of care to the victim, but an attempted mediation never happened, and the damages-only case went to trial Nov. 12.

According to defense pleadings, Devereux cited the victim's history of mental health issues and other behavior prior to her admission to the facility and argued that there was no evidence to indicate that Singleterry was a danger to its patients or prone to sexual misconduct prior to the assault.

The victim "is not entitled to recover for any emotional damage sustained during other events of her life including the several sexual assaults which took place before she was admitted to Devereux," said a defense account.

Nor, it said, was Devereux responsible for "escalating emotional and behavioral problems following her discharge" from the site.

"Primary fault for the sexual contact at issue belongs to Singleterry," it said.

"The defense was essentially that [she] was damaged when she got there, and they argued the idea of a 'baseline' for her injuries there," said Rogers. "They said they were only responsible for the imaginary baseline damages and that she didn't mitigate those damages."

Rogers said witnesses included Devereux employees and testimony that a supervisor routinely "turned a blind eye" to staff members who left early.

Rogers said testimony from Atlanta behavioral health specialist Nancy Aldridge helped jurors understand the lasting impact and trauma such an attack could have on a child.

In closing, Rogers said he asked for $15 million to $20 million in compensatory damages. He said Barr did not suggest a dollar figure.

The jury awarded $10 million in compensatory damages on Monday but apportioned 50% of the liability to Singleterry, who was included as a nonparty defendant on the verdict form.

The panel also declared that attorney fees and punitive damages were warranted and on Tuesday returned to award $50 million in such damages against Devereux.

Rogers said he was particularly grateful to the judge and her staff, who "did an incredible job. They were very patient and fair with both sides, working nights and weekends as we got ready, and during trial."