The parents of a 4-year-old Hazel Dell boy who died from complications of E. coli have filed a lawsuit against his former day care center, Clark County and the state, alleging all were responsible for a series of missteps that led to the child’s death.
The wrongful death suit was filed by the couple’s Hoquiam attorney, Paul Stritmatter, Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court. It names as defendants Larry and Diane Fletch, operators of the former Fletch Family Day Care, Clark County and Washington.
Anthony and Bonnie Wilson, parents of Ronan Wilson, seek damages to be determined at trial, per state law, to cover funeral expenses, lost future earnings and “pain, suffering, anxiety, emotional distress and fear of impending death experienced by Ronan,” according to the lawsuit.
“This whole thing is a tragedy,” Stritmatter said Friday afternoon. “It was the fault of many adults in many capacities who were supposed to be acting to protect him.”
Ronan died April 8, 2010, after contracting E. coli at the in-home day care that he attended in Hazel Dell. He was hospitalized for one week before he died.
County denies guilt
As is standard in possible civil litigation, the Wilsons first filed a tort claim with Clark County in June. The county’s risk manager, Mark Wilsdon, sent a letter to the family in July, respectfully denying culpability.
When reached by telephone Friday, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Bronson Potter pointed to that letter in defending the county. He hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit.
“I can say we are denying liability,” Potter said. “We thought that the handling by Clark County Public Health was appropriate.”
The 19-page complaint lists a series of alleged errors that started with the day care center. Since 1995, the day care was found several times to be in violation of state law for the number of children under its supervision (more than 12).
The suit also alleges the Fletches did not ensure children were properly diapered or that they were washing their hands or took precautions against communicable diseases.
“Fletch did not maintain their home and all child care equipment in a clean and sanitary condition, which contributed to the person-to-person spread of E. coli,” the suit said.
The state Department of Early Learning revoked the Fletches’ license last fall.
Larry Fletch said Friday that he had not seen a copy of the complaint and could not comment. He was not aware that he was listed as a defendant. “I think what’s going to happen is … we’re automatically going to be drawn in as a third party” to the county’s suit.
The county learned of the first case in the E. coli outbreak March 19, 2010. It investigated and found there were no other sick children. The next month, however, the county ordered the day care to close after test results showed other people had E. coli, though they had no symptoms.
The suit alleges that the “negligent failure of the Clark County Public Health Department to reasonably alert the medical community, the general public or the public schools of the E. coli outbreak in a timely manner caused or contributed to the death of Ronan A. Wilson.”
The county has said it did not send a provider alert because of the relatively small number of children involved.
In addition, the suit claims the state’s Department of Early Learning was negligent in not considering “the previous noncompliance by the (day care) when it did inspections of the facility.” The suit also alleges the state department did not close the day care in a timely manner and did not ensure the center was “safe and clean.”
Amy Blondin, a spokeswoman for the state department, said the department had not yet received the complaint, so she could not comment.
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516; laura.mcvicker@columbian.com; www.twitter.com/col_courts; www.facebook.com/reportermcvicker.
