Trending
MARSHALL -- A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit concerning a man who was living in a group home in Marshall in 2020, according to Lyon County court records. However, a judge's order in the lawsuit said the details of the settlement would be kept confidential to protect the privacy of the man's family.
An order approving a wrongful death settlement in the case was filed in Lyon County District Court on April 20, according to court records.
A 2021 civil complaint filed against REM Southwest Services, Inc., REM Minnesota Inc., and National Mentor Holdings, Inc., alleged that the operators of a Marshall group home for adults with disabilities were negligent in the death of Ty Andrew Klocow, 27. The complaint alleged that staff at the group home did not check on Klocow often enough as he was taking a bath in September 2020. Klocow was found unresponsive in the bath, and an autopsy determined that the cause of his death was probable freshwater drowning, the complaint said.
In February, the parties in the lawsuit agreed to a settlement of the wrongful death action, court documents said. However, Klocow's next of kin had concerns that disclosing the settlement amount would lead to invasions of their privacy. A July 2022 story in the Independent included the financial amount of damages the family were seeking. As a result of the story, Klocow's family received numerous unwanted contacts and questions about the lawsuit, according to the judge's order. The questions forced family members to relive the traumatic events leading to Klocow's death, the order said.
In the order, District Court Judge Michelle Dietrich said the benefits of keeping the settlement terms confidential outweighed the benefits of allowing public access to the information.
A Minnesota Supreme Court decision, in the case of Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Schumacher, allows the court to keep the settlement details confidential, Dietrich's order said. The state Supreme Court case focused on the decision to seal wrongful death files connected to a passenger airplane crash in 1985.
Financial details of the settlement in Klocow's case would be sealed and kept confidential, Dietrich's order said. The wrongful death lawsuit was also dismissed.