Bondurant nursing home settles lawsuit with family of woman who died of hypothermia in 2022
A Bondurant senior care center where a woman froze to death two years ago has settled a lawsuit filed by the woman's family.
Lynne Stewart, 77, died Jan. 21, 2022, after she was found unconscious and suffering severe hypothermia outside a locked exterior door at the Courtyard Estates at Hawthorn Crossing. Stewart had been living in the dementia care wing of the facility, and a subsequent investigation found she had been able to exit the building unnoticed despite multiple alarm systems meant to detect wandering residents.
The center was fined $10,000 for numerous breaches of safety regulation, and a worker responsible for the memory care wing that evening later pleaded guilty to dependent abuse.
Courtyard Estates and its owners were sued in January on behalf of Stewart's estate as well as that of her daughter, who died in 2023. On Thursday, the lawsuit was dismissed after the family informed the court it had reached an undisclosed settlement with the defendants.
An attorney for the family told the Register the terms of the settlement are confidential. No attorney is listed representing Courtyard Estates, and a message left with an employee at the facility seeking comment received no response Monday.
The settlement doesn't mark the end of litigation related to Stewart's death. Another Courtyard Estates employee, who was working the night Stewart got out, but was assigned to another wing, filed suit in 2023, claiming she was wrongly terminated despite following policies. She alleged Courtyard was scapegoating her and another Black employee while ignoring errors by white workers, including senior managers, that contributed to Stewart's death. That case remains pending.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa nursing home where woman froze to death in 2022 settles lawsuit
