By Jim Haley
Herald Writer
Two years ago, the state of Washington agreed to pay $8.8 million to Linda David, a woman who had suffered abuse and neglect at the hands of her caregiver husband for more than a decade.
The payment came after a lawsuit was filed on her behalf charging state workers with negligence.
But it now turns out that a big chunk of that sum will be paid by the state’s insurance carriers, instead of coming out of state coffers.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry Tuesday ruled in favor of the state, which said the insurance should pay everything above the state’s self-insurance limit of $5 million, the equivalent of a deductible.
The refunded money will likely go into the state’s general fund.
The losers in this court battle were a group of London-based insurance firms that insure the state.
Linda David’s caregiver, Victor David, was convicted of second-degree assault and sentenced in 2001 to 10 years in prison for abusing his wife and keeping her in squalid conditions on a sailboat near Marysville. The abuse left Linda David blind, brain-damaged and unable to walk or care for herself.
Seattle lawyers representing the insurance carriers argued that the London group should not have to pay anything because the state’s negligence and the abuse started long before July 1, 1990, the effective date of the policies.
Lawyer J.C. Ditzler told Castleberry the state’s single most negligent act occurred in 1985 when Victor David was licensed to take care of her, and the state started paying him for that service.
But Jeff Tilden, a special assistant attorney general who argued for the state, maintained the abuse continued before and after the effective insurance date — until Linda David was rescued from that sailboat in 1997.
Castleberry said there’s "no rational basis" for allocating financial responsibility for the negligence before and after the policy date.
There’s also no way to determine when the acts occurred that caused damage to Linda David, partly because the state workers didn’t do their jobs by checking on her and reviewing her case.
"It is clear had any properly conducted review occurred, it would have resulted in immediate removal of Ms. David from Mr. David," Castleberry said. "This would have stopped the abuse and stopped the neglect."
The money won in the lawsuit settlement is being used for long-term care for Linda David.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447
or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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