(WWJ) – An adult foster care home for people with mental disabilities in Grand Rapids is facing a lawsuit alleging a staff member at the home allowed a man to be scalded to death in his bathtub.
The victim, Robert Hoffman, was a man with severe autism, cerebral palsy, and cognitive impairments who lived in the Grand Rapids group home, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is set to be filed by Marko Law, LLC against Thresholds Inc., the operator of the group home.
Hoffman depended entirely on the staff of the home to complete many basic day-to-day tasks, including bathing, according to the law firm. They say Hoffman enjoyed taking baths every day, which “eased him and relieved the severe back pain he suffered with.”
Staff members at the home were supposed to help him get into the bath each day, run his water, monitor him closely, and help him get out of the bath.
But on the morning of Feb. 21, 2022, according to the lawsuit, a Thresholds employee filled Hoffman’s bath with “scalding hot water.” He was then left alone in the bath for “a prolonged period of time.
He was later found “in a fetal position making a choking noise,” according to the lawsuit.
After Hoffman was rushed to the hospital, he was unresponsive and had severe burns across the majority of his body. His skin was “sloughing off his body.”
He succumbed to his injuries the next day.
The Thresholds staff member in charge of bathing Hoffman that day claimed the bath water was “lukewarm,” but police investigations later discovered the temperature was 128°F. Officials say the legal maximum water temperature is between 105°F-120°F.
“People with mental disabilities deserve to feel safe in the care of those tasked with caring for them,” a press release from Marko Law said. “They also have the right to be treated in a way that reasonably ensures their safety. Thresholds violated this right when its staff negligently allowed Robert, its resident who wholly depended on the group home’s staff to live a comfortable life, to be burned to death in his bathtub.”
The lawsuit claims Thresholds had a duty to protect Hoffman, but “plainly failed to do so” and that their conduct “flies in the face of the duties it owed to society’s most vulnerable and to their families.”
“This is a horrific case,” attorney Jon Marko said. “No one should have to worry about the safety of someone with mental disabilities in a home that exists specifically to care for them. This home, entrusted with Robert’s safety, had no greater priority than his well being and the welfare of vulnerable people like him. It’s absolutely sickening what they allowed to happen to Robert.”
When reached by WWJ, the president and CEO of Thresholds declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
This lawsuit will be filed in Kent County Circuit Court against Thresholds, Inc. The claim includes counts of negligence and gross negligence, as well as direct negligence.
The Plaintiff is Matthew Hoffman, as the personal representative of Robert Hoffman’s estate, and he is represented by Detroit attorney Jonathan R. Marko of Marko Law, PLLC and Grand Rapids attorney F. William McKee of Warner Norcross + Judd LLP.
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