Michigan’s state-run Hawthorn Center — a child’s psychiatric hospital where an active shooter drill was held that traumatized patients and staff in December 2022. (Screengrab via WXYZ)
The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $13 million to patients and staff at a state-run children’s psychiatric hospital over a surprise active shooter drill that occurred in December 2022.
The first lawsuit against the Hawthorn Center in Northville Township — a medium-sized suburb of Detroit — was filed in April 2023 by six employees and the parents of two children attending the facility. At the time of the drill, none of the patients’ families were alerted that it would occur and most of the staff were also kept in the dark.
Four additional lawsuits were eventually filed by various parties over the “frantic call” that was issued through the hospital’s paging system announcing that there were active intruders in the building.
The state agreed to settle all of the lawsuits with two classes on Thursday, according to the 88-page settlement agreement obtained by Law&Crime. Under the terms of the agreement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which previously operated the hospital, did not admit to any wrongdoing over the drill.
“During negotiations and since the litigations were filed, the Department has asserted, and continues to assert, that it has substantial defenses to the allegations raised by, and claims brought by, Plaintiffs and the classes,” the agreement reads. “The Department denies all allegations and claims of wrongdoing or liability that were asserted, or could have been asserted, by Plaintiffs in the litigations. The Department’s decision to enter into this Agreement shall not be construed as any form of admission of liability. Rather, all liability is expressly disclaimed. Plaintiffs, for their part, dispute the validity of the Department’s defenses.”
Still, the agreement anticipates that experts will agree several staff members, at the very least, suffered “trauma” from the drill.
Late in the morning on the day of the drill, the hospital’s director Victoria Petti directed a front desk clerk to sound genuinely afraid when announcing the intruders, according to the original complaint obtained by The Detroit News. In a secondary public address system announcement, the nonexistent intruders were said to be two men toting AR-15 rifles who had fired their weapons, the lawsuit alleged.
After that, a panic ensued.
Nearly 200 workers and 50 patients barricaded themselves in windowless rooms with furniture, the lawsuit alleges. Those inside armed themselves with makeshift weapons and placed phone calls to loved ones because they were afraid they were going to die.
For many patients, the lawsuit alleged, the drill resulted in severe regression and self-harm — exacerbating preexisting mental illnesses.
The lawsuit alleged “constitutional violations” under Michigan Constitution Article I, sections 11, 16, and 17. Those sections deal with unreasonable searches and seizures, cruel and unusual punishment, and deprivation of liberty without due process, respectively.
The son of the lead plaintiffs in the case, David Horein and Kortni Horein, was 11 years old at the time of the drill. According to the lawsuit, he was given soap and shampoo to protect himself against the purported rifles, The Detroit News reports.
“I wish they would come out and say that they were actually wrong.” David Horein told Detroit-based NBC affiliate WDIV. “That has been my standing point in this whole process. But $13 million is a large sum of money. And even if they don’t say they’re wrong, I think there’s a pretty big implication there that they did something and they needed to make it right.”
Mediation began almost immediately after the first lawsuit was filed.
The settlement agreement, which has been agreed to by both sides pending a judge’s approval, will create two plaintiff classes: one for patients impacted by the drill; another for relevant staff.
The $13 million gross payment will be divided up into three separate pools: $2.88 million for patients; $5.77 million for staff; and $4.33 million for administrative costs and attorneys’ fees.
Those pools, however, will not entirely result in lump sum payments.
Former hospital staff claiming medical expenses due to the drill will be subject to psychological examinations by a “Trauma Assessment Team,” made up of two doctors from Boston College. Those doctors will then submit reports to an assigned special master overseeing the funds “to inform disbursements based on relative psychological impact of the incident on each individual.”
The patient class payouts will differ drastically based on various factors and fact situations — including whether a payee is a minor.
“The Patient Compensation Fund shall be allocated equally among the Patient Plaintiff Class Members, except that each Class Representative for the Patient Plaintiffs shall receive an additional $5,000.00 in their distributions,” the settlement agreement reads.
An appendix attached to the settlement agreement leaves several details to be determined in the future. For now, it anticipates three trusts for patients: one that will deal with medical treatment for patients with special needs; one for investment purposes; and one that will “hold, manage, and administer funds for individuals who are not receiving means-tested government benefits.”
A hearing on the settlement is currently slated for Feb. 16.
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