Judge approves $13.35M settlement of lawsuit against DSHS over disabled man’s abuse
A Whatcom County Superior Court judge on Friday approved a $13.35 million settlement of lawsuit brought on behalf of a developmentally disabled man.
The plaintiff’s attorney believes it to be the largest settlement levied against the Department of Social and Health Services on behalf of a severely disabled adult. DSHS is represented by the Washington state Attorney General’s Office.
The Northwest Regional Council also was named as a defendant, but the lawsuit is still being litigated against that agency, which provides services for seniors, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers in Whatcom, Island, San Juan and Skagit counties.
Despite the large settlement against DSHS, the plaintiff’s attorney, David P. Moody, believes NWRC is the most culpable of the two defendants.
The case involved a severely developmentally disabled man named James Rupke. The lawsuit alleged that DSHS, the AG’s Office and NWRC failed to protect Rupke from “readily foreseeable harm at the hands of his state-approved and state-paid caregiver, Alf Vatne.”
Vatne “subjected James to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and abandonment, all of which could have been avoided if DSHS and NWRC had conducted even the most rudimentary assessment of Alf’s qualifications or conducted any meaningful oversight of the ‘care’ that Alf was being paid to provide at taxpayer expense,” according to court filings.
Court filings also noted that Rupke was “stashed away” in a disrepaired, rat-infested shack in Vatne’s backyard for more than 30 years. Rupke was unable to protect himself against Vatne as a result of his extreme disability. No case managers ever entered the shack, and the rats and smell were never mentioned in any assessments. Vatne lied to case workers about Rupke having his own room in the house, but neither DSHS or NWRC “took any steps to ensure that James had a safe place to sleep.”
The filings noted that Vatne would leave Rupke alone for long periods of time with no care while he used Rupke’s money to travel on vacations. Because of the lack of care, Rupke was “filthy—covered in dirt and smelled of eye-watering body odor, feces, and stale urine. “
Additionally, Rupke was sexually abused by Vatne personally. Vatne would also hire sex workers to perform sex acts on Rupke while Vatne watched.
“These defendants were negligent in the extreme. Mr. Rupke was a forgotten man. For decades,” Moody said in a statement to McClatchy Friday. “The evidence is overwhelming. Both DSHS and NWRC demonstrated a callous disregard for Mr. Rupke’s health and safety.”
Moody also noted in the statement that years of Rupke’s records were missing, and that the AG’s office had no explanation for the missing records.
Moody noted that the court recently appointed legal guardians for Rupke.
“He is in a very good place right now,” Moody said. “Mr. Rupke’s money will be placed in a trust and protected.”
“Stay tuned,” Moody added in his statement. “The lawsuit against NWRC is even larger. The citizens of Whatcom County will be outraged when they learn more.”
DSHS responded to McClatchy in an email on Friday regarding the settlement.
“No vulnerable human being, including Mr. Rupke, should suffer any neglect and abuse by a provider or a guardian,” a spokesperson for DSHS said. “Although this settlement cannot erase the past, we hope it will provide Mr. Rupke with additional support and services as he moves forward with his life. DSHS is committed to working with community partners on improvements so that vulnerable clients are able to experience the dignity, independence, and the choices to which they are entitled.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
