The family of a youth home worker killed two years ago has sued current and former workers at the facility where she died, accusing them of gross negligence in failing to protect her from a 15-year-old resident.
Kathleen Galloway-Menke worked at Ellipsis, an all-male youth home in Johnston. On May 8, 2024, she and another worker left the building in pursuit of a teenage resident, according to investigators. The resident, 15-year-old Jovahn Mathis, then ran back and shoved Galloway-Menke, sending her to the ground and causing head injuries that resulted in her death six days later.
Mathis, now 17, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and is currently receiving juvenile offender services. He will be formally sentenced as an adult July 31, when he turns 18.
Galloway-Menke is survived by her two adult daughters, Chloe Williamson and Camille Menke, who filed the lawsuit against their mother’s former co-workers. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not respond to messages seeking comment, but in previous interviews Williamson, who had worked at Ellipsis before her mother’s death, said Mathis was known to be aggressive and that warnings to management had fallen on deaf ears.
“Everyone in my building and my cottage knew,” she told the Des Moines Register in June 2024. “We tried telling Ellipsis this was a problem and (the child’s placement) wasn’t the right fit, but we didn’t have the support.”
In their lawsuit, filed last month, the sisters make claims against more than a dozen individuals, including then-CEO Chris Koepplin. The petition describes issues of “inadequate security, chronic understaffing, malfunctioning or unavailable communication devices” and other problems it alleges were known and not addressed prior to Galloway-Menke’s assault.
Mathis in particular had assaulted other residents and staff members on several occasions, requiring medical treatment, and was known to be “extremely violent,” especially toward Galloway-Menke and other female employees, the lawsuit alleges. It says Williamson quit her job several weeks before her mother was injured because of threats received from Mathis and other residents.
Despite knowing of these conditions, and Galloway-Menke’s fear about coming to work with Mathis, Koepplin and other co-workers “failed to remove Mathis and other dangerous residents from the Ellipsis campus, failed to place them in a more secure or appropriate facility, failed to secure them, failed to protect the staff, including Kathleen, and failed to implement and ensure proper safeguards, procedures, and protocols to protect staff,” the petition claims.
In particular, prior to the assault, Ellipsis did not lock its doors or otherwise secure residents inside, allowing Mathis to walk away and forcing employees to follow him, the lawsuit says. It claims a policy requiring staff to follow “dangerous and violent residents” around the neighborhood “was dangerous and not consistent with or within the standard of care.”
By law, most workplace injuries and deaths must be addressed through Iowa’s workers’ compensation system, even those caused by negligence. Only if plaintiffs can meet the higher standard of showing gross negligence can they bring separate civil claims.
In the wake of the assault, the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated and cited Ellipsis for failing to protect employees from workplace violence and other shortcomings, the complaint notes.
In a statement, current Ellipsis CEO Kelly Hannan said the organization wants to continue to support Galloway-Menke’s family.
“Our hearts remain with Kathleen’s family and all those affected by this loss,” she said. “While we cannot comment on the pending litigation, we can state that we are committed to seeking a fair and just outcome in this matter while keeping our focus on the vulnerable youth and families we serve.”
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: Family sues over worker’s death at Johnston’s Ellipsis youth facility
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By William Morris, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
