ST. GEORGE — Diamond Ranch Academy in Hurricane has filed for dismissal in the civil lawsuit against the youth treatment facility in the allegations of medical malpractice resulting in the death of 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge.
The civil lawsuit was filed Dec. 30, 2022, by Dean Goodridge, the deceased youth’s father, in relation to the teen’s sudden death which occurred at the youth treatment facility in Hurricane on Dec. 20, 2022.
The cause of her death has yet to be released. The Hurricane Police Department has said by email that the criminal investigation is still open and certain information is currently not available to the public, including the autopsy results. The email was in response to a Government Records Access and Management Act requested by St. George News.
On March 10, Heidi G. Goebel and Samantha E. Wilcox of Goebel-Anderson PC of Salt Lake City filed the request for dismissal on behalf of Diamond Ranch Academy.
The submitted request states that the case should be dismissed on the basis of several facts relating to the jurisdiction of the case and non-compliance in following the prelitigation procedure.
This prelitigation procedure involves an appearance to a medical malpractice panel where a panel of medical experts decides if a case of malpractice has merit.
The person with the malpractice claim can still sue even if the panel decides there is no merit in the case. However, by state law, this extra step must be completed prior to the filing of an official civil case. Utah is one of 16 states who use prelitigation panels.
According to the dismissal request, the cited allegations of medical malpractice against a health care provider by the plaintiff means the jurisdiction falls under the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act, which requires the appearance before the panel but has reportedly not been completed by Dean Goodridge.
In response to the filing by the defense for dismissal, the attorneys for Goodridge filed for a motion of leave to be granted for a second amendment to the complaint to be performed.
United States District Court Judge David Nuffer has issued an order granting a stipulated motion to extend time in response to the dismissal charges. The plaintiff has until Friday, April 21, to file a memorandum opposing the motion to dismiss the case.
The judge also issued another order. The defense will have an additional one-week extension of time after Friday to file its reply in support of the motion to dismiss.
The initial filed complaint
Dean Goodridge filed the initial complaint on Dec. 30, 2022, with three claims for relief. The first claim was for negligence/knowing and reckless indifference, alleging Diamond Ranch Academy breached their duty to provide “responsible care” for Taylor Goodridge since they knew she was in extreme pain, and as a result, she collapsed and died. The allegations cite failure to provide proper care to her and proper training to staff.
The second claim for relief is cited as a breach of fiduciary duty. The claim is that the family has lost their relationship with her as a result of the academy’s actions and/or inactions, which has resulted in expenses for the family.
The third claim for relief is one of premises liability. This claim is the academy provided dangerous conditions that resulted in the teen’s injury and death. The allegations say she was an invitee of the academy, and the academy failed to provide necessary care, and as such the academy is liable.
The first amended complaint
The main changes in the first amended complaint on Feb. 17 were the addition of a “John Doe” as the defendant in the original case filing. The claims were revised to fit all defense parties, adding three more claims for relief. The three claims added were false imprisonment, innkeeper liability and child abuse.
The motion to dismiss request
In the motion to dismiss, the defense has made the allegations that the plaintiff has admitted to not doing the prelitigation procedure required by the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act by stating, “Goodridge avers that he ‘is in the process of complying’ but has not done it as of yet.”
The motion also requests that three of the claims for relief be dismissed as there was not an official “claim” in the filings. The three claims requested to be dismissed are innkeeper liability, premises liability and child abuse.
The leave request
Mortensen and Milne, legally representing the Goodridge family, made the request for an order of leave to finish filing a secondary amendment, which would add Taylor Goodridge’s mother, AmberLynn Wigtion, as a plaintiff and officially identify “John Doe” as Big Springs Properties, who is the property owner of the land of Diamond Ranch Academy.
No official court date has been scheduled as the process is still dependent upon the request for dismissal and the orders mandated for responses from both parties.
St. George News reached out to both the Goodridge family and Diamond Ranch Academy but did not hear back at the time of this report.
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