An Enumclaw businesswoman is suing a behavioral health agency following her son’s overdose last year, alleging its negligence led to his death.
Judy Rossu, who owns an Enumclaw barbershop and lives in Pierce County, filed the lawsuit against Rainier Recovery Center in the Pierce County Superior Court on Nov. 13.
The Courier-Herald has reached out to Rossu, but did receive a comment by print deadline.
According to the lawsuit, Russo’s son Brett Patrick Ryan died Feb. 23, 2024, from a fentanyl overdose following 17 years of substance abuse.
A year before his death, Ryan was arrested for DUI and, under the referral of his attorney, was evaluated by Rainier Recovery, which would later be investigated by the state of Washington and KING 5 for “an extensive pattern of corrupt practices,” according to KING.
Performing the intake assessment was a “Peer Support Counselor,” who, according to court documents, “had no prior training or education working in a clinical setting or providing services to individuals with mental health or substance abuse disorders” before she was employed by Rainier Recovery.
She was also not certified as a Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP), despite the fact that was her official position at Rainier Recovery, nor was her work supervised by a licensed counselor as required by law.
After the initial evaluation, it was recommended Ryan receive the lowest level of treatment – completing an eight-hour Alcohol and Drug Information School course and participate in a Victim Impact Panel – despite his extensive history with substances and denial of substance abuse.
According to the lawsuit, former Rainier Recovery Center CEO Jeremiah Dunlap “had a pattern and practice of directing employees to downgrade assessments to help build repeat business with criminal defense attorneys,” as revealed later by a Washington State Department of Health investigation.
The lawsuit alleges that “… a trained supervisor would have questioned… Ryan’s denials of substance abuse” at the time and may have recommended more involved treatment.
Richards approved the assessment on May 10, 2023, and Dunlap gave it his signature on June 6.
Dunlap re-signed the assessment on Jan. 4, 2024, adding a recommendation for three months of monthly monitoring and urine analysis.
Dunalp also removed the initial evaluator’s name from the assessment, but did not assign any other SUDP or perform a follow-up assessment himself.
After Ryan pled guilty to DUI on Feb. 5, 2024, Rainier Recovery created a treatment plan, which required extended alcohol and drug information school courses and three months of monthly monitoring.
The treatment plan was created with out a reassessment of Ryan, lacked the signature of a SUDP, and “did not correspond with the initial assessment and recommendations,” the lawsuit alleges.
On Feb. 17, 2024, Rainier Recovery documented that Ryan completed a urine test that turned out negative for substances.
However, no urinalysis was performed that day, the lawsuit alleges.
Ryan died six days later.
Rossu’s lawsuit is asking for general damages and special damages, including funeral and burial expenses, to be proven in court, as well as other legal fees.
A TROUBLING BUSINESS
The Washington State Department of Health immediately suspended Rainier Recovery Center’s three licenses on Nov. 26, 2024, following legal charges alleging the business “employed counselors who lacked required education and supervision to provide the services the facilities were licensed for,” and for failing to “promptly and accurately report the clinical assessments and progress of patients, including those who were undergoing court-ordered treatment and monitoring.”
The state found Rainier Recovery and its leadership “systematically failed” to perform its duties and obligations in an agreed-to order on Dec. 17, 2024 after an extensive investigation.
The state forced Dunlap to sell his three facilities and for Rainier Recovery to pay a $10,000 fine.
However, according to KING 5, he still retained his SUDP certification, and he attempted to open Peninsula Counseling in Gig harbor through a former Rainier Recovery employee.
The DOH denied the Peninsula Counseling application on Oct. 15.
