Medical company’s bankruptcy could hinder jail death lawsuits in Charlotte
The former Mecklenburg County jail healthcare provider routinely accused of contributing to deaths has filed for bankruptcy, halting all lawsuits against it and leaving families and attorneys stunned.
The company, Nashville-based Wellpath, worked inside Mecklenburg County jails for 15 years — first in 2008 as Correct Care Solutions, then as Wellpath after a private equity firm bought Correct Care Solutions in 2018. Wellpath abruptly ended its contract in Mecklenburg this year. On Tuesday, it filed for bankruptcy.
It’s a move the company says will allow it to restructure. It’s a move lawyers say could strategically shield Wellpath from ongoing and future lawsuits.
Wellpath is named in 1,000 federal lawsuits, pending and closed, across the United States and accused of contributing to at least 70 deaths, a CNN investigation revealed in 2019. In Charlotte’s federal court, it is a defendant in at least five open lawsuits.
“It’s a simple and familiar story of a multi-billion dollar company that’s trying to use the legal process to avoid responsibility for its civil rights violations,” said Devontae Torriente, a legal fellow with the National Police Accountability Project — a nonprofit that is “dedicated to ending law enforcement abuse through legal action and educational programming.” Its lawyers have about 200 pending lawsuits naming Wellpath as a defendant.
The company did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Wellpath is more than $644 million in debt, McClatchy previously reported. The ability to restructure and sell parts of the company under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy will reduce that debt by approximately $550 million, according to a news release.
But to lawyers, the filing “raises questions about future accountability and justice for inmates and their families,” said Charlotte attorney Micheal L. Littlejohn Jr., who represents several families who have filed lawsuits against Wellpath, the Mecklenburg County Jail and Sheriff Garry McFadden.
“It could potentially hinder victims and their families from seeking the justice they deserve,” he said.
When Karon Golightly, a 20-year-old in Mecklenburg County Jail, died after detention officers missed state-mandated rounds, his mother filed a lawsuit alleging negligence from McFadden and Wellpath. That lawsuit will not be able to move forward with its claims against Wellpath unless a judge grants special permission, said Charlotte bankruptcy lawyer Jim Henderson. The same goes for every other case.
Plaintiffs could also move forward by arguing their claims in a bankruptcy court in Texas, where Wellpath filed for Chapter 11 protection, Henderson said.
But, Torriente said, “delaying their proceedings means delaying justice.”
He said he expects many families and lawyers will simply drop Wellpath from the cases.
The Charlotte Observer reported earlier this year that Wellpath has a history of being sued for its work in North Carolina jails and then settling the lawsuits confidentially. It has closed six lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina since 2021.
In one case, the family of Devin Haley, a 41-year-old who died by a “slow, preventable and totally unnecessary” suicide, reached a settlement with McFadden, Wellpath and more than 20 other defendants in April.
Before his death inside the jail, Haley had pleaded for his prescription anti-depressant, Wellbutrin, 16 times in seven weeks in jail, according to the lawsuit.
