The family of a teen who lost an eye at Fort Behavioral Health in Fort Worth is suing for “far in excess of $1 million,” according to a news release from the family’s attorneys.
The 15-year-old boy was in a bathroom at the hospital when he was attacked by 10 other boys and lost his eye, according to the lawsuit. The family says in the suit that a supervisor at the facility laughed about the assault.
Fort Behavioral’s adolescent programs were shut down in 2023 following a Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation which uncovered allegations of abuse and neglect at Fort Behavioral Health Center. Its adult offerings were abruptly ended last year.
The lawsuit, originally filed March 17, seeks damages from Fort Behavioral, several employees along with the families of two children. The petition was amended April 9.
KERA News could not reach any attorneys representing Fort Behavioral, its employees or those named in the suit as assailants,
Bobby Patton, the owner of Fort Behavioral, did not respond to a KERA News request for comment. Patton is also a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Patton Land and Cattle.
Seeking help
Fort Behavioral promoted itself as a treatment center for minors 11 to 17 years of age experiencing combined addiction and mental illness.
That’s why on Sept. 11, 2023, the teen’s mother took him to Fort Behavioral Health for in-patient treatment, according to the lawsuit.
The boy, identified in the petition with only his last initial “L,” was diagnosed with depression, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and autism prior to his admittance, according to the suit. His mother took him there because she believed he would be safe, and the treatment program would help him.
Fort Behavioral presented itself on its website as a safe and effective treatment program, according to the lawsuit.
But four days after his admittance, the injured teen was taken by ambulance to Texas Health Hospital in Fort Worth after his left eye was “severely injured” in a fight with 10 other boys, the teen’s family alleges in the suit.
The fight
L was in the boy’s restroom near Fort Behavorial’s gymnasium on Sept. 15, 2023, when he was attacked by multiple boys, the petition alleges.
KERA News does not publish the names of minors accused of crimes.
L was attacked there by three boys while a staff member stood in the bathroom doorway and watched, the suit charges.
Kelly Puls, the attorney representing L and his family, said the attack wasn't short, but at no point did this staffer take any action to stop the fight, nor did he call a “Code Purple,” an alert to other staff about the fight, until after it was already over.
"They knowingly allowed this fight to happen and to continue to go on," Puls told KERA News. "This didn't take seconds, it was a long time."
After the attack, Puls said the staffer mocked the teen about what happened. The lawsuit said EMTs hadn't arrived at that point.
L reported that after the fight, while waiting for EMT to arrive, the staffer stated: ‘I told you not to go to the bathroom,’ ” the suit reads. “L stated that after the fight, the case manager and nurses came over to treat his injuries."
The suit states the staffer was making fun of the injured boy while accompanying him to the hospital via ambulance.
Staff members knew prior to the fight that the boys had been bullying L and that they had a history of violence toward others, the suit charges, citing an investigation by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Two of the boys who attacked the teen have since been arrested. Puls said one pleaded guilty.
The former patient said in the lawsuit he was treated by nurses and a case manager after the fight. When paramedics arrived, he was taken to Texas Health Hospital in Fort Worth for treatment.
It was in the hospital that doctors removed the injured boy's left eye as a result of the injuries sustained in the fight, according to the petition. He also suffered “severe mental and emotional distress.”
Negligence, felony assault, spoilation
The family is suing Fort Behavioral Health for gross negligence.
The petition seeks damages against the employees, too, charging that they were all negligent in their responsibility as guardians to protect L and stop the fight that injured him.
One is accused of leaving another staffer alone with 10 or 11 boys in the gym, not taking with him a radio to communicate because there was a shortage of them in the facility at the time, according to the lawsuit.
According to state rules, the staffer shouldn't have been allowed alone with 10 children under rules set by the state in February of 2023. Fort Behavioral was placed on probation after citations by state regulators who found evidence of abuse.
Terms of the probation, cited in the petition, include a one to five ratio of staff caregivers to juvenile patients. Under the terms of that probation, there should have been two adult caregivers with the children.
Another staffer, at the time the administrator of Fort Behavioral, is said in the lawsuit to have known the teen was being bullied by the other boys. The petition claims the boy reported the bullying to staff but he was still sent to play basketball with them the day he was attacked.
Two of the children accused of attacking the teen are included in the suit, which says their actions left him without his left eye and with pain and suffering that will last the rest of his life.
The suit also seeks damages for spoilation, alleging Fort Behavioral “knowingly and intentionally destroyed relevant video and documentary evidence, documents and reports” related to the attack.
L’s family is seeking the maximum amount allowed by law for damages including medical expenses, L’s impairment, past and future suffering and punitive damages for negligence.
Puls said the punitive damages are meant to discourage future attacks, negligence and people who aren't qualified to own a mental health facility from owning one.
He emphasized that no matter what punitive damages are awarded, L will still live the rest of his life without his left eye.
"He's embarrassed about his eye," Puls told KERA News. "It's hard enough being worried about your haircut, much less having an artificial eye."
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org. You can follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
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