State Faces Suit In Abuse Case -- $55 Million Sought For Linda David

The lawyer for Linda David, whose husband allegedly beat her and held her captive on a squalid sailboat for more than a decade while collecting state money as her caregiver, filed a claim today against the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and six of its employees for $55 million.

The tort claim, filed this morning with the state Division of Risk Management in Olympia, is the first step toward filing a lawsuit against the DSHS in state court.

The claim alleges that the DSHS and state social workers assigned to monitor David were negligent and violated her federal civil rights by failing to protect her, said David P. Moody, her Seattle attorney.

"She's the most profoundly abused, neglected person I've ever seen in my life," he said. "What stands out in this case is the extraordinary span of time in which clear and specific warnings of abuse were being ignored."

Moody added: "It's a miracle that Linda David is alive. She's a fighter, a woman with a tenacious spirit trapped in a body that was beaten and tortured for well over a decade."

To show that her civil rights were violated, Moody will need to prove that DSHS employees acted with gross negligence and deliberate indifference to David's plight.

The named employees are: Carolyn Bergstrom, Daisy Chang-Radloff, S. Kerns, Rochelle Kalla, Lammert Funk and Harlan Eagle Bear. Kalla and Chang-Radloff declined to comment; the others could not be reached today.

Bergstrom, a retired DSHS supervisor, oversaw the case for 10 years. Chang-Radloff, Funk and Eagle Bear were social workers who visited David on the sailboat or in a nearby parking lot. Kalla and Kerns were Adult Protective Services workers who visited her on the boat.

The claim lists failures on the part of DSHS caseworkers and supervisors to heed a clear pattern of warnings that David was being abused by her husband, including strongly worded reports from doctors.

The document also states that DSHS employees never attempted to confirm a multiple-sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and that caseworkers never tried to interview David outside the presence of her husband.

DSHS officials declined comment this morning. "It would not be appropriate for us to discuss anything that could lead to litigation," said DSHS spokeswoman Kathy Spears.

Moody filed the claim today because state law requires plaintiffs to notify state or local governments 60 days before a lawsuit is filed.

Questions, but no action

In 1984, David, now 51, began receiving state aid because she was disabled, apparently with MS. Within a year, she started receiving additional state funds under a DSHS program known as Chore Services to pay for a caregiver. She chose her husband, Victor David, now 59.

From the mid-1980s until 1997, the Everett woman lived on her husband's filthy 30-foot sailboat with large German shepherds. For much of that time, DSHS caseworkers, who were required to perform periodic in-person visits, were suspicious that she was being abused. Early on, doctors indicated she showed signs of severe physical abuse and neglect; and when social workers visited her, Victor David answered for his wife.

Caseworkers raised questions but ultimately didn't act on their suspicions. They stopped visiting the boat in 1988 and stopped checking on Linda David altogether in 1993.

Forty months later, in January 1997, Linda David was finally rescued after a DSHS employee tried to locate her at an Everett marina. Police found her jammed into the bow of the sailboat, covered with vomit and junk, surrounded by dog excrement, immobilized. She had been beaten senseless, leaving her with cauliflower ears and a distorted nose. Her limbs were deformed by years of untreated fractures.

In addition to $55 million in compensatory damages, the tort claim seeks punitive damages. Washington is one of the few states that does not allow punitive damages, but they are recoverable under federal law.

"It is only through the imposition of punitive damages that a jury is empowered to deter similar violations from happening in the future," Moody said.

Linda David's cousin, Martin Pitt of Maryland, said any settlement would be used entirely for his cousin's benefit. She could benefit greatly, he believes, from physical therapy, eye care and other rehabilitation. She also needs a 24-hour health-care assistant, he said.

"I am very supportive of the lawsuit," Pitt said. "I have nothing to gain from it other than the piece of mind of knowing that Linda will be able to live better than she can now."

She remains in nursing home

Today, Linda David is in a Snohomish County nursing home. She has suffered brain damage, is blind in one eye and has only partial vision in the other. She uses a wheelchair and can't eat, wash or use a bathroom by herself.

Victor David was not arrested until last May, partly because of jurisdictional issues; the investigation was by the state Attorney General's Office, while ultimate authority to prosecute lies with the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office.

He is being held in the Snohomish County Jail on second-degree-assault and other charges. A hearing to determine whether he's competent to stand trial is set for Oct. 15.

After The Seattle Times brought the case to light, DSHS Secretary Lyle Quasim defended his agency and said he could find nothing caseworkers had done incorrectly. He also said others, including neighbors who failed to report their suspicions to police, might be more culpable.

But Gov. Gary Locke publicly overrode Quasim and said the system - including state social workers, investigators, local police and attorneys - had failed Linda David. Locke allocated $2 million to the DSHS to undertake measures to ensure the protection of other disabled and elderly adults in home care.

Anne Koch's phone message number is 425-745-7814. Her e-mail address is akoch@seattletimes.com