Long v. Bethany Children's Home

$3M Verdict

Date of Verdict: April 8.

Court and Case No.: C.P. Philadelphia No. 170403305.

Judge: Sean F. Kennedy.

Type of Action: Negligence, wrongful death.

Injuries: Death.

Plaintiffs Counsel: Michael Pisanchyn and Bradley Moyer, Pisanchyn Firm, Scranton.

Defense Counsel: Francis Deasey, Deasey, Mahoney & Valentini, Philadelphia.

Comment:

A Philadelphia jury handed down a nearly $3 million verdict against a Berks County children's residential treatment home accused of ignoring the warning signs of a mentally ill teenager's intent to commit suicide.

Calvin Long, the father of Carley Long, who at age 16 was struck and killed by a Norfolk Southern freight train on the night of May 6, 2015, after running from the Bethany Children's Home facility in Womelsdorf, sued Bethany for failing to keep his daughter safe.

Long claimed that Bethany was aware of his daughter's multiple suicide attempts, spurred by bipolar disorder, and a previous escape from the facility, but neglected to keep her within sight and hearing distance at all times, according to the plaintiff's court papers.

On the date of the incident, another resident allegedly threatened Carley Long with a knife. According to court papers, Long was told that she had to be kept in the facility longer than expected and would not return home until later. She asked to call her father multiple times, but was denied, court papers said.

“At Bethany the governing regulation is that all children be kept in 'ear shot' and 'eye shot' of staff,” Calvin Long's court papers said. “Even Bethany agrees that the children, and specifically Carley, [were] to be supervised, keeping her with visual and audio range. Bethany did not keep Carley supervised appropriately and she left the house without being noticed.”

Long was represented by Michael Pisanchyn and Bradley Moyer of the Pisanchyn Firm in Scranton. On the verdict, Pisanchyn said he hopes the verdict will encourage Bethany to “stop putting profits ahead of safety.”

“These are the types of cases that are important to our community—the jury who speaks for and sets the community standards clearly decided that Bethany must change,” Pisanchyn said. “Although Carley died, we hope that her name lives on and she did not die in vain.”

Bethany denied responsibility for Carley Long's death.

“There was no evidence of Long's intent to harm herself on the day in question. Numerous staff had interactions with Long on the day/evening of her death, and there is no evidence that she communicated to them an intent/plan to harm herself, much less evidence that she intended specifically to commit suicide by later running out of the home and standing on railroad tracks,” the defendant's court papers said. “Indeed, her last interaction with staff occurred minutes before she left the home and there is no evidence that she was perceived to be an imminent threat to harm herself.”

“Even if Bethany arguably failed to supervise Long, it does not follow that Bethany is legally responsible for her death,” Bethany's papers continued.

Bethany also argued that Pennsylvania law does not allow for wrongful death compensation in cases of suicide.

The children's home's attorney, Francis Deasey of Deasey, Mahoney & Valentini, said he plans to appeal the verdict.

“I have a great deal of respect for the jury system in America, but I totally disagree with the verdict in this case,” Deasey said.

Norfolk Southern was originally a defendant in the lawsuit, but was dismissed after the judge granted its motion for summary judgment.

—P.J. D'Annunzio, of the Law Weekly