NEW YORK – A federal class action lawsuit against a former community-based mental health treatment facility in Brewster has been settled for $3 million after eight years in the Southern District of New York court.
The suit claims physical and emotional abuse on behalf of 269 former residents of SLS Residential Services, Inc. between 2004 and 2006.
The company was sanctioned for $35,000 when it was learned that it used
scare tactics to try to defeat the case. That led to the State Office
of Mental Health to strip SLS of its operating license based on regulatory
violations. The company closed in 2011.
“This case helped to expose an area that is ripe for reform, namely the for-profit mental health industry, which too often places profits over effective treatment,” said plaintiff’s counsel Michael Sussman of Goshen.
