HUNTINGTON – The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a correctional officer and others are facing a lawsuit from the estate of a Western Regional Jail inmate who committed suicide.
According to the a filing in Cabell Circuit Court, plaintiff Jennifer Short, as administratrix of the estate of Rick L. Short, filed the civil suit against West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, formerly the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Authority, Joseph Dorsey, correctional officer and others over allegations of negligence and medical professional negligence.
"...defendants and their representatives, employees and agents failed to ask appropriate mental health questions, failed to appropriately score responses and answers to the questions they asked, failed to appropriately assess Mr. Short's suicide risk, failed to take the steps to prevent and treat the mental health and withdraw risks present, failed to review intake notes and material, failed to assess his medical condition and mental health conditions and failed to follow protocols for ascertaining suicide risk and danger, as well as failing to initiate a suicide watch for Mr. Short," the complaint states.
Short was found dead in his jail cell on Aug. 26, 2017, after he hanged himself with a bedsheet, according to the suit.
The plaintiff seeks compensation for damages including litigation costs as well as punitive damages. She is represented by Michael Woelfel of Woelfel & Woelfel LLP in Huntington.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Gregory L. Howard Jr.
Cabell Circuit Court case number 19-c-368