The family of a New Philadelphia man who died in June 2011 at a Mahanoy Township personal care home that the state closed less than a week later won a $125,000 verdict Wednesday in Schuylkill County Court from the facility and its owner.
A jury took less than an hour to decide the case in favor of the family of Evan J. Williams, 87, and against White Owl Manor and James F. McGill Jr., Kelayres.
Eric M. Prock, Pottsville, the Williams family's lawyer, said after the verdict, which ended a one-day trial presided over by Judge James P. Goodman, that the case should serve as a caution to all personal care home operators.
Jurors found that McGill and the home were liable for the June 27, 2011, death of Williams.
"The cause of death was asphyxiation, choking on food," testified Dr. Richard P. Bindie, the pathologist at Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street. "It was at the White Owl Manor."
Bindie, who said he has performed 6,185 autopsies and testified in more than 100 cases in his career, testified as to a "striking finding' in the case.
"The esophagus was just full of food. Food was backing up, going down the airway," he said. "It was going on for some time."
"The food clogged Mr. Williams' airway?" Prock asked Bindie.
"Yes," Bindie answered.
"Could he breathe?"
"No."
White Owl Manor was operated as a personal care home at 2 White Owl Drive for many years until it was closed July 1, 2011, by the state Department of Public Welfare after three residents died and McGill failed to report the deaths as required to DPW. The failure to report the deaths, which followed other violations found by DPW at the facility in prior months, caused DPW to close the facility immediately and have the 32 residents moved to other personal care homes in the area.
On Aug. 31, Mahanoy Township officials closed and padlocked the building after Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin issued an injunction ordering that McGill cease operating it as a boarding house. Mahanoy Township zoning officials had ruled against his application to do so.
On March 29, McGill entered the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program after being charged with two counts of access device fraud and one each of identity theft and theft. The charges will be dismissed if McGill successfully completes the program.
State police at Frackville charged that McGill withdrew $4,926 from the account of William J. Barlow Jr., another former White Owl manor resident, in August 2010.
Prock said Wednesday's verdict will help Williams' family but that the loss of a relative still outweighs the financial gain.
"What happened here is a tragedy," Prock said.
"No amount of money can bring Evan Williams back to life. No family should ever have to go through what the Williams family went through. This trial was about accountability. The entire family is grateful for the justice that the jury gave them today."