OAKLAND — The Alameda County District Attorney’s office has filed contempt of court charges against the healthcare company that provides care in the county’s lone adult jail, alleging it flouted a court order to hand over documents in the 2021 death of a man who languished in his cell for days.
Thus far, a judge has sided with the DA’s office and against Wellpath, which contended that it had mostly complied with the court order, but that some of the documents were subjected to privilege. Judge Elisa Della-Plana has ruled that privilege exemptions don’t apply to what the DA is asking for, but will review some of the documents in question on Monday to make sure, according to court records.
If Della-Plana’s finding doesn’t change after the document review, she will order Wellpath to turn over the remaining documents, court records show. She hasn’t made a ruling on whether the company is guilty of contempt of court.
The case centers on the death of Maurice Monk, which has already led to criminal charges against nine Alameda County deputies and two Wellpath staffers. During the investigation into Monk’s 2021 death, Alameda County investigators filed a search warrant for certain documents from Wellpath.
The company provided significant documentation, but has refused to turn over a key document — a report that lists recommendations over the company’s internal probe into Monk’s death. The company has claimed the report is “patient safety work product” and exempt from disclosure under federal law. Prosecutors disagree.
“Despite the fact that California law does not permit withholding documents responsive to a search warrant on the ground that they are privileged material, Wellpath continues to disobey the court’s search warrant and refuses to produce the required document,” a filing by Alameda County prosecutors says. “The Court should not tolerate Wellpath’s intentional delay of the People’s investigation.”
Wellpath has countered in court filings that it has a valid “claim of privilege” and has “cooperated with the investigation” thus far by turning over thousands of pages. and
“Wellpath has acted in good faith and should not be held in contempt for asserting a valid privilege and should further not be compelled to disclose,” a response filed by the company’s lawyers says.
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Monk, 45, was declared dead on Nov. 15, 2021, after languishing for days while he lay facedown and half-naked in his Dublin jail cell, a pool of brown liquid oozing from beneath his body. His family later sued Alameda County and received a $7 million settlement along with assurances that the sheriff’s office would implement new training for its deputies.
Monk had been jailed for allegedly threatening a bus driver during an argument about whether he had to wear a COVID-19-style mask on the bus. It was a misdemeanor offense with a low bail, according to court records.
Last month prosecutors filed elder or dependent abuse charges against current and former deputies Troy White, Donall Rowe, Ross Burruel, Robinderpal Hayer, Andre Gaston, Syear Osmani, Mateusz Laszuk and Christopher Haendel. Also charged are former deputy Thomas Mowrer, as well as WellPath nurse David E. Donoho and Alameda County Behavioral Health clinician Dr. Neal Edwards. White, Osmani and Hayer also were charged with one felony count of falsifying documents.
The Alameda County Sheriff has admitted to “mistakes” in the handling of Monk’s death but decried the decision to file criminal charges. There also exists a question of how this case will be handled when a new DA takes over. Former DA Pamela Price was recalled from office and formally left on Thursday, but the county is weeks away from selecting her replacement.