Case Summary
A Champaign County jury awarded a $535 million verdict to a girl who was raped when she was 13 years old at a psychiatric residential treatment center after Simon Law Firm attorneys proved the facility could have prevented the 2020 attack. It took the jury 6 ½ hours to deliver its verdict – one of the largest awards in Illinois history. The jury awarded $60 million in compensatory damages — $20 million for the child’s “loss of normal life” and $40 million for her “pain and suffering.” It also included $475 million in punitive damages against the defendant, Pavilion Behavioral Health System, which operated the facility where the assault happened. It is an Illinois-based subsidiary of for-profit hospital operator Universal Health Services. The trial lasted eight days in March 2024.
Key Highlights
- The defense argued Pavilion staff had no way to predict the 16-year-old suspect and his accomplice would orchestrate the assault. But when presented with the attacker’s intake records and video surveillance footage from the night of the attack, witnesses, including Defendant’s own employees, agreed that heightened supervision or intervention was necessary.
- Testimony revealed that the facility allowed male and female patients between 3 and 17 to be housed on the same floor without any physical barriers or heightened monitoring.
- Simon Law represented the victim’s mother in this case, who filed a lawsuit alleging her daughter was placed in a room next to her attacker without adequate measures to prevent the assailant from assaulting her.
Sexual Assault Lawsuit: Case Analysis
The victim’s mother brought her to The Pavilion in Champaign, Illinois due to concerns regarding her mental health. Six days later, she was raped by a 16-year-old boy who worked with another teen at the center to cover surveillance cameras with toothpaste. The attackers’ intake records indicated he had a history of violence, including an escape from a juvenile center in Chicago, and was a threat to patients to and staff.
Testimony from Pavilion employees showed there were only three staff members monitoring a 30-bed unit on the night of the attack. An expert witness testified the unit should have had at least double that number.
Current and former employees also testified that their concerns about staffing levels went unanswered, which put the safety of patients and staff members at risk.
None of the staff members on duty that night noticed the toothpaste on the security cameras or took any action because The Pavilion did not have a system in place to monitor cameras in real-time.
The defense argued the adolescent floor was adequately staffed per industry standards, and that the monitoring that night was performed in accordance with their typical practices.
Sexual Assault Lawsuit Outcome and Impact
This historic judgment sends a powerful message that psychiatric facilities will be held accountable for failing to protect their most vulnerable patients.
It sends a message that a culture change is needed in mental-health facilities to ensure children are protected, and should encourage other such institutions to reevaluate their policies, staffing, and patient safety protocols to avoid similar tragedies.
Simon Law’s successful representation of this victim and her family demonstrates the firm’s commitment to seeking justice for victims and their families, reinforcing its reputation as a formidable advocate for those affected by corporate negligence. It also demonstrates how the firm doesn’t just handle cases, it handles causes.
For the sake of profit, this victim will now live the rest of her life with a trauma that could have been prevented. We hope that this verdict will help her continue her path to recovery as well as show other victims that it is possible to hold people accountable when sexual assaults happen in places where people should be kept safe. And we hope this verdict will put everyone in this industry on notice about the importance of keeping its most vulnerable safe.
Additional Case Information
For additional information, contact Attorney Timothy M. Cronin at The Simon Law Firm at tcronin@simonlawpc.com.
- Samuel Lisec. “Jury renders $535 million judgment against The Pavilion in 2020 rape of patient.” The News-Gazette. March 29, 2024. https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/jury-renders-535-million-judgment-against-the-pavilion-in-2020-rape-of-patient/article_c36a05f5-e80a-53c6-92ee-9f1f17acafef.html
- James Drew. “St. Louis law firm secures $535M judgment, hopes it leads to ‘culture change’”. St. Louis Business Journal. June 21, 2024. https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/06/21/motion-to-be-filed-overturn-judgment-st-louis-law.html
- Rylee Wilson. “Uncertainty surrounds ‘unprecedented’ $535 million verdict, UHS executives say. Becker’s Behavioral Health. April 26, 2024. https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-news/uncertainty-surrounds-unprecedented-535m-verdict-uhs-executives-say.html
