It seemed like a nightmare at the time: In late October, a New York advocacy group for people with special needs issued a blistering report that a treatment center in Pennsylvania was breaking the law by restraining its residents, among them, a child with an intellectual disability.
In less than a decade, the report claimed, negligence by the center, Woods Services, had led to the deaths of two New York residents. One, the report claimed, was run over by several cars in 2009 when staff members failed to supervise him. The following year, the report found, another resident suffocated in a hot car.
On Wednesday, Woods Services fought back, filing a defamation lawsuit in Federal District Court in Philadelphia claiming that the report by the advocacy group, Disability Rights New York, was rife with “unfounded accusations, misleading characterizations and outright falsehoods.” The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, asked a federal judge to issue two court orders: one declaring that the report was false, the second requiring Disability Rights New York to issue a retraction and an apology.
“Woods has a century-long legacy of delivering on our mission,” a spokeswoman for the center, Cheryl Kauffman, said. “That includes our obligation to zealously safeguard and protect the individuals we serve and the staff who serve them.”
According to the lawsuit, the advocacy group’s report, which ended an investigation that began in June 2016, made 34 recommendations for “corrective actions,” but ignored the fact that Disability Rights New York knew — or should have known — that most of the suggestions were already in place, were impossible to install or would “degrade resident safety.” The suit also said that instead of allowing Woods Services to review and respond before the report was published, Disability Rights New York released it through its website and social media accounts.
In the days and weeks after the report, the lawsuit said, Woods Services saw a decline in resident referrals and received several inquiries from the family members of its residents, inquiring about its practices. It was also subject to numerous investigations by oversight agencies.
While the investigations found no basis for the allegations of neglect and abuse contained in the report, the lawsuit said, they did require “Woods to invest significant time and energy in responding.” That time and energy, the lawsuit said, could have been devoted to its residents.