$5 Million Verdict After Brain-Injured Veteran Suffocated During Prone Restraint at FINR Facility

Michael Lieux served in the United States Marine Corps before sustaining a severe brain injury that left him in need of long-term residential care. He became a resident at the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation, known as FINR, a private facility in Wauchula, Hardee County, that specialized in care for brain-injured patients.

The incident that ended Lieux's life began when FINR staff moved to subdue him using a physical technique the facility described as 'therapeutic containment.' Five employees held him face-down on the floor in what the medical examiner later classified as a prone restraint. He died at the scene. The Hardee County medical examiner ruled the cause of death 'positional asphyxia due to restraint' and the manner of death homicide.

Lieux's parents, Una Marshall and Russell Lieux, filed a wrongful death action against FINR. The firm of Swope, Rodante P.A. represented the family, with attorney Shea Moxon handling the case through trial and on appeal. Counsel argued that the prone restraint was an unreasonably dangerous method of intervention for a patient with Lieux's condition and that FINR staff applied it in a manner that cut off his ability to breathe.

The Hardee County jury sided with the family. It awarded $2.5 million to each parent for their past mental pain and suffering, totaling $5 million. The jury declined to award punitive damages, finding the compensatory award sufficient.

FINR appealed to Florida's Second District Court of Appeal, challenging multiple rulings from the trial court. The appellate panel affirmed the judgment in full on December 8, 2006, concluding that FINR had not established any error requiring reversal. The $5 million verdict stood.