A Seattle Jail has agreed to settle with the family of a man who committed suicide while serving time inside the jail.
The lawsuit was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Seattle. As a result of the complaint, King County has agreed to pay the family of Michael Clinard $750,000 for not taking the necessary action to prevent his death.
Michael Clinard was serving time in the King County Jail because of domestic abuse charges. The lawsuit described Clinard as a magazine photographer and father of three. During his time as a photographer, he gained a national presence and his portfolio included shots for the cover of Fortune's 2015 “Fortune 500” magazine issue.
The lawsuit goes on to paint a grim picture of his professional and personal descent. According to the complaint, in 2013, Clinard was the victim of a traumatic brain injury after an assault in New York. Following the traumatic brain injury, Clinard suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder. As a result of his mental health issues, Clinard was on several different medications.
According to his family, when Clinard was taken into jail, he was never seen by a mental health expert. Additionally, although doctors knew about the medication he took, they never probed deeper into his mental health issues.
Consequently, the lawsuit accuses jail doctors of denying him access to his medication, one of which included Lorazepam. The family insists that because Clinard did not have access to his medication, his mental health began to deteriorate. The complaint goes on to detail that over the course of three weeks, Clinard began to alert jail officials that he felt like there was something wrong with him. It was not until January 3rd that Clinard was found dead in his cell.
A spokesperson for the jail has addressed the lawsuit but did not go into the specifics of Clinard’s case. King County's Noah Haglund shared that in an effort to check for risk factors, “anyone booked into King County jails undergoes an extensive health screening by an intake nurse.”
Kroger has settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of longtime employee Evan Seyfried, who claimed harassment by managers at an Ohio store contributed to his death by suicide in 2021.Seyfried, 40, worked for the grocery chain for 19 years and managed the dairy department at its Milford... Read More about Kroger Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Employee’s Suicide
Seattle has agreed to pay $2.6 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by four female police officers who accused Seattle Police Department leaders of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation.The lawsuit, filed in 2024, named former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, former Assistant Chief Dan Nelson, and current Lt. John... Read More about Female Seattle Police Officers Reach $2.6 Million Settlement in SPD Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
The family of Donald Maier, a Wisconsin inmate who died from dehydration and malnutrition while held in solitary confinement at Waupun Correctional Institution, has reached a $3.75 million settlement with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.Maier’s mother filed the wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit in April 2025 in federal court.... Read More about Family of Wisconsin Inmate Who Died at Waupun Prison Reaches $3.75 Million Settlement
The estate of a man who was shot and killed last June by Portland police officers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. 40-year-old Michael Ray Townsend was at a Motel 6 when he called 911 because of suicidal ideations he was having. According to transcripts of the... Read More about Family of Man Killed by Portland Police Files Wrongful Death Suit
Michael Wilson, 32, was serving a two-week jail sentence in the San Diego Central Jail for violating his probation. At the time of his imprisonment, he had an enlarged heart, a serious condition that began when he was four to five months old. As a result, he needed four different... Read More about Nurses Can Be Sued for Denying Jail Inmate Needed Heart Drugs