A civil lawsuit brought against security company Allied Universal Security Services over an incident in which a nurse at Rhode Island Hospital was critically injured by a patient settled earlier this month.
Scott Amaral, the nurse in the suit, was allegedly attacked by a psychiatric patient while working his regular shift at Rhode Island Hospital, and nearby Allied Universal security officers failed to intervene, according to his 2024 complaint. Amaral is not suing Brown University Health or RIH.
The settlement was reached on the second day of trial after the jury was shown a video of the 2023 assault.
Amaral suffered serious injuries caused by “blows to his head, neck and chest,” the complaint reads. He went into cardiac arrest in the nurse’s lounge, and he was resuscitated multiple times. His medical expenses were close to $1 million, the complaint continues.
The original complaint alleged that Allied Universal conducted “negligent hiring, training, retention (and) supervision.”
After the Dec. 13 shooting, University officials contracted additional security across campus from Allied Universal.
Allied Universal did not respond to a request for comment.
Ralph Liguori, Amaral’s lawyer, declined to comment on the details of the settlement, citing a confidentiality agreement between the parties.
“Violence against healthcare workers is unacceptable,” Kelly Brennan — spokesperson for Brown Health, the hospital’s parent organization — wrote in an email to The Herald. “Every member of our healthcare team deserves a safe workplace, and we support holding those who commit acts of violence against healthcare workers accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The patient who attacked Amaral was charged with felony assault in 2023, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year.
After the attack, Brown Health created a webpage titled “#ScottStrong: Keep Healthcare Workers Safe” to increase awareness about violence in healthcare. The page shares that healthcare workers face some of the highest rates of workplace violence, with injury being five times more likely than in other professions and one in four nurses being physically assaulted while working.
“Generally speaking, these cases involve allegations of negligent security,” Liguori told The Herald.
“Sometimes it’s the individual acts by the officers, and sometimes it’s that coupled with a systematic deficit by the employer who fails to hire the right people, fails to supervise them properly, and lo and behold, the mistakes occur,” he added.
According to Liguori, a successful negligence case must prove that the defendant did not meet some standard of care. He explained that lawsuits alleging security negligence often refer to what other security companies are doing and consult security experts.
“These incidents happen all over the country,” Liguori said.
