State of Michigan to pay psychiatric center patients, employees $13M after terrifying active shooter drill

Robin Wagner served as Lead Counsel in a high-profile case against the State of Michigan, resulting in $13 Million in compensation for patients and employees of the State-Run Hawthorn Center pediatric psychiatric hospital, after the hospital administration traumatized them by holding a realistic “active shooter” drill that hospitalized children and adults. The suit responded to the trauma and resulting post-traumatic stress disorder that resulted in many of the Hawthorn employees calling their loved ones and saying goodbye, believing they were under attack.

“The ruling represents, to the credit of the state, an acknowledgement, that their patients and employees were deeply harmed. It’s a meaningful amount of compensation and that will create change because it has to. The next time anyone thinks of performing a safety drill, they’re going to think before they act. This is the lesson and the moral of the story. We believe that meaningful change will come and that is what justice looks like.” —Robin Wagner

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