A federal judge last week declined to dismiss a lawsuit against Denver Health and several employees for their alleged roles in the death of a 71-year-old jail detainee.

Leroy “Nicky” Taylor died on Feb. 9, 2022 at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center, where he was serving a 90-day sentence. Taylor’s son subsequently filed suit against Denver Health, which provides medical services for the jail, and five named employees. The lawsuit alleged Taylor’s life-threatening condition was obvious to sheriff’s personnel and other detainees, several of whom raised the alarm. Yet, the medical response was inadequate.

In an Aug. 20 order, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney rejected Denver Health’s attempt to dismiss the claim that its employees were deliberately indifferent to Taylor’s serious medical needs. Specifically, the lawsuit credibly alleged the defendants failed to properly treat Taylor or refer him for emergency care elsewhere.

“Here, the symptoms were so obviously dangerous that laypeople did recognize them: multiple prisoners and (jail) staff members commented on Mr. Taylor’s need for medical attention, indicating that the seriousness of the symptoms was obvious and would be especially obvious to a medical professional,” she wrote.

According to the lawsuit, Taylor entered the jail on Nov. 7, 2021. More than two months into his sentence, he contracted COVID-19 and transferred into separate housing. Upon his negative test and return to the general population, other detainees allegedly alerted a jail deputy that Taylor was “extremely sick.”

The deputy sought medical help, but the response was allegedly limited to medication and ongoing monitoring. Over several days, Taylor’s breathing decreased, he lost his ability to swallow and he was unable to stay hydrated. He left a voicemail for his public defender asking for a judge to let him go to the hospital because “I feel like I’m dying in here.”

Taylor also called his sister to reiterate his feelings of imminent death and that staff “said they couldn’t help me.”

Multiple sheriff’s employees documented their own worries about Taylor in their notes. One deputy wrote he tried to explain to a nurse that Taylor’s hands and feet were blue, but she replied there was “nothing that she can do.” A sergeant also raised her concerns with a nursing supervisor, but was told “there was nothing wrong” with Taylor.

One nurse did note the “disturbance” in Taylor’s pod, allegedly referring to the other detainees’ efforts to get help for him.

Although Denver Health employees did provide some treatment for Taylor, his symptoms of blue hands and feet, dehydration, vomiting and difficulty breathing persisted. On Feb. 9, Taylor died in his cell after resuscitation efforts failed.

“Mr. Taylor’s obviously deadly medical emergency indicated he desperately needed to be hospitalized,” the lawyers for Taylor’s son argued to the court. “To the extent that any care was arguably provided, it was inconsistent with Mr. Taylor’s obviously serious symptoms and failed to abate his risks of harm, which were known to the Individual Defendants.”

Denver Health, in moving to dismiss the lawsuit, countered its staff could not know Taylor “was going to die of natural causes,” as the medical examiner ultimately ruled. The defendants also attached records showing the various treatments provided to Taylor.

If Taylor was actually in an emergency, “the Sheriff’s themselves have the authority to take Plaintiff to the hospital or call 911,” attorney Anthony E. Derwinski added.

“It is unclear exactly what Defendants are arguing,” Sweeney responded in her order. She elaborated that Taylor’s cause of death was irrelevant. It only mattered that the defendants knew Taylor’s symptoms indicated a serious risk, which they allegedly did.

Sweeney further rejected Denver Health’s attempt to shift blame to the sheriff’s office, as the lawsuit alleged medical personnel were the ones with the authority to obtain emergency care for Taylor.

Based on the allegations, “a reasonable jury could find that the individual Defendants were on notice that their conduct, inaction in the face of Mr. Taylor’s obviously alarming symptoms, violated clearly established law,” she wrote.

As for Denver Health itself, Sweeney agreed the lawsuit credibly alleged the hospital failed to train or supervise its employees. Moreover, there was an informal custom of assuming incarcerated patients were exaggerating their illness and of a “wait and see” approach to detainees.

“If Denver Health medical staff had believed Mr. Taylor and provided him timely care, it is plausible that he would not have died, or that his pain and suffering before his death could have been mitigated,” Sweeney concluded.

The case is Estate of Taylor et al. v. Denver Health and Hospital Authority et al.