Family files suit against county
Suzanne von Slomski's parents want $6M for her death after having been in a county facility
By Leslie Griffy
lgriffy@thetribunenews.com
The family of a woman who died after being restrained and sedated at a county mental health facility wants $6 million from San Luis Obispo city and county for their daughter's death, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
Neither county nor city attorneys have seen the wrongful death suit yet and couldn't comment on it.
Suzanne von Slomski died of heart failure at French Hospital Medical Center on May 1, 2005, after being transferred there, while unconscious, from a county Department of Mental Health facility.
Coroner's officials said von Slomski's weight, a heart condition and prescribed methamphetamines contributed to her death. In the suit, her parents say the Mental Health Department and police are to blame.
The suit alleges the defibrillator at the center wasn't charged, a resuscitation airbag could not be found and staff failed to contact her family or physician.
San Luis Obispo police officers found von Slomski, 40, on Parker Street on April 22, 2005. The car she was living in had run out of gas at a stop sign, blocking an intersection.
After talking with the woman, officers decided that her responses --invoking God and refusing to respond to questions --warranted a mental health screening.
Von Slomski became upset as mental health officials processed her into the facility on Johnson Street and attempted to remove her religious medals, according to police reports.
Officials then placed the handcuffed woman on her stomach and injected her with three types of sedatives. According to reports, officials noticed she had stopped breathing after the third and called for an ambulance.
In addition to the suit filed in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Tuesday, the family's lawyer, James McKiernan, said he also filed a suit claiming civil rights violations in federal court in Los Angeles.
Read the lawsuit filed against SLO County by family of woman who died in custody (PDF)