Family of man who died in SLO County Jail wants to withdraw $41,000 settlement agreement
The family of a 60-year-old man who died in San Luis Obispo County Jail in 2017 has attempted to withdraw a lawsuit settlement negotiation offer of about $41,000.
James McKiernan, the lawyer representing the family of Kevin McLaughlin, says the family initially agreed to a final settlement offer of $41,850.
But before the county supervisors’ meeting on Oct. 22, McLaughlin’s family decided to withdraw the offer and contacted multiple county attorneys to let them know, but they didn’t receive a response back, McKiernan said.
County supervisors met in closed session to discuss approving the negotiation, but opinions differ on what transpired.
“The four attorneys for the county were advised of the plaintiffs’ rejection of the county’s offer before it was approved by the Board of Supervisors,” McKiernan said in a statement.
But the county’s counsel says the parties “negotiated a settlement in good faith on October 11, 2019.”
“The settlement agreement was signed by the plaintiffs and their attorney,” said Nina Negranti, a county attorney, in an email to The Tribune on Friday. “The board approved the settlement on October 22, 2019, and a report was made out of closed session. If plaintiffs’ counsel contests the settlement, the county intends to make a motion with the court to enforce the settlement.”
Kevin Lee McLaughlin died on April 13, 2017, at 3:52 a.m. after complaining of shoulder pain to a correctional deputy nearly two hours earlier.
After being cleared by a nurse, the inmate was sent back to his bed in a low-security dorm, where he was found unresponsive with labored breathing about an hour later, SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said at a news conference in April 2017.
The family sued the county, alleging jail officials denied him medical care and “intentionally ignored Kevin’s well-known heart attack symptoms warning signs.”
McKiernan said in a statement that McLaughlin complained of “classic heart attack symptoms” that otherwise would require him to be rushed to an emergency room, but instead “his jailers gave him an aspirin.” He died 30 minutes later, McKiernan said.
“Dorothy McLaughlin, the decedent’s 85-year-old mother, will continue on with the grueling court process to see that justice is served for her dead son and others in the County Jail whose serious medical complaints are disregarded by jail medical personnel,” McKiernan said in a press release.
McKiernan said the board had “no reportable action” after discussing the item in closed session.
The plaintiff’s lawyer expects the dispute will be resolved in court.
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