The mother of a Richmond Hill teenager, who took her own life, is seeking monetary damages in the amount of at least $5 million according to a wrongful death suit filed in State Court last week in Pembroke.
Documents filed by attorney Carl R. Varnedoe on behalf of Laura Lane Maia on Feb. 11, state that the wrongful death of Lane’s daughter, Sydney Saunders, 14, was caused by the combined negligence and tortious misconduct of the defendants Richmond Hill Mayor Harold Fowler, the Richmond Hill City Council and Richmond Hill Police Cpl. Doug Sahlberg.
A letter from Varnedoe to Fowler notifying him of the suit, states, in part, that on or about Feb. 14, 2011, Sahlberg was among the RHPD officers who responded to an attempted suicide by Saunders.
The letter goes on to say that as part of the officers’ investigation, Sahlberg, or another officer, photographed, or obtained photographs; of injuries sustained and/or inflicted by Saunders. And that later the photos were removed from police custody and allowed to be viewed by one, or more, of Saunders’ classmates.
The suit specifically names Sahlberg as the individual responsible for the release of the photos. The document goes on to state that the officer owed a duty to Saunders to safeguard and keep confidential the photos, and that by not doing so he breached his duty to her. And that Sahlberg knew, or should have known, that the disclosure of the photos would injure or harm Saunders’ “personal sensibilities” and “mental repose,” as it did as evidenced by her taking her own life on April 5, 2011.
When contacted Fowler and Varnedoe declined to comment on the suit. Ray Smith, attorney for the City of Richmond Hill, said only that he had accepted service of the documents for the city parties and had passed them on to city’s insurance carrier for defense.
No trial date has been set.