TALLAHASEE — The Supreme Court of Florida has remanded a ruling involving twins who filed a negligence suit against Adept Community Services after they were diagnosed with developmental delays.
The Nov. 1 supreme court ruling comes after the twins, through their maternal grandparents, lost their negligence case against Adept in both trial and appellate courts. The twins allege that Adept failed to protect them from "suffering physical, mental, and emotional injuries at the hands of their mother." The twins' mother suffers from noncongenital cerebral palsy and seizure disorder. As a result of the neglect, the twins have been diagnosed with sensory disorder, a condition, court documents say, "attributed to their past abuse and neglect."
The twins, who were born in September 2005, brought their initial claim against Adept in November 2010. However, the lower courts ruled that the twins' "claims were barred by the four-year statute of limitations applicable to negligence claims, and granted summary judgment for Adept," a ruling that the appeals court affirmed. However, after a review, the supreme court ruled to have the matter once again reviewed.
According to court documents, the twins mother was diagnosed with noncongenital cerebral palsy and seizure disorder shortly after her birth. At the age of 20, the mother moved out of her parents home and "hired Adept and B.E.A.R.R. to provide support services, including a live-in aide to provide around-the-clock assistance."
During her pregnancy, court documents say, the mother moved back into her parents home "but was determined to live on her own again after the twins were born." Once again, Adept was hired to provide services.
In April 2006, the mother fired the live-in aide and the twins were removed from the mother's home and sent to their grandparents' care. After a health assessment from the Department of Children and Families, the twins were diagnosed with having "developmental delays and anxiety problems due to abuse and neglect.” In March 2007, the twins were diagnosed with sensory disorder.
On Nov. 22, 2010, the grandparents filed a claim against Adept claiming that the services "negligently failed to prevent them from being injured by their Mother’s maltreatment."