Civil lawsuit in Utah teen's death can proceed

A federal judge has refused to dismiss claims of negligence leveled at several state agencies and private individuals by a Utah woman whose teenage son died in November 2007.

Donna Whitney has sued the state of Utah, the Department of Human Services, the Division of Juvenile Justice Services, private provider Quest Youth Services and several individuals who operate or work for the company, over the death of her son, Dillon Whitney.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled Wednesday that Donna Whitney's negligence claims can go forward. However, he dismissed her civil-rights claims against the state. Attorneys for the state had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed in its entirety, arguing in part that the state is immune from a negligence claim because of the "incarceration exception" to the Utah Governmental Immunity Act.

Dillon Whitney, 16, was charged in late 2006 through early 2007 with several crimes, according to the lawsuit. He was referred to juvenile court and ultimately placed by the state with Quest Youth Services. A Quest employee then put the teen in a proctor home operated by the employee's brother.

On Nov. 24, 2007, Whitney used an approved home visit to attend a party at a Salt Lake apartment. He got drunk, court records state, and fell down a flight of 17 stairs. The teen was carried back to the apartment, but he was later dumped in a stairwell by the apartment tenant, who believed the boy was dead.

Someone found Whitney the following day and called 911. He died on the way to the hospital, the lawsuit states.

"According to the plaintiffs, during the time Dillon was missing, no one from the state of Utah, (the Division of Juvenile Justice Services), or Quest searched for him or reported him missing to any authority who could locate him," court records state.

The lawsuit also contends that the proctor father assigned to care for Dillon "allowed the proctored children to violate their respective court orders, the laws of the state of Utah and the policies and procedures of (the Division of Juvenile Justice Services)."

Kimball agreed with the state that it cannot be sued for civil-rights violations because it is not "a person" as defined by federal law. He also ruled that Whitney's placement at Quest did not amount to incarceration in a place of "legal confinement," as required by the governmental immunity act, therefore the state could not claim immunity from Donna Whitney's negligence claims.

Donna Whitney's attorney, Robert Strieper, said he was pleased with Kimball's ruling. Strieper had not opposed the state's request for dismissal of the civil-rights claim.

Efforts by the Deseret News to get comment Wednesday from the Utah Attorney General's Office concerning the ruling were unsuccessful. Future hearings in the case have not yet been scheduled.

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