STATE OF MICHIGAN

WAYNE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

DOROTHY GREENE, as personal

representative of the Estate of
STEPHEN GREENE,

Plaintiff,
Case No: 19- -NO
vs. Honorable

JOSHUA CHOROBA and RACHEL

ROWELL,

Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________________

JONATHAN R. MARKO (P72450)

Attorney for Plaintiff
Ernst & Marko Law, PLC
645 Griswold Street, Suite 4100
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Phone: (313) 965-5555
Fax: (313) 965-5556
[email protected]
______________________________________________________________________________

There is no other civil action between these parties arising out of

the same transaction or occurrence as alleged in this Complaint
pending in this Court, nor has any such action been previously filed
and dismissed or transferred after having been assigned to a judge,
nor do I know of any other civil action, not between these parties,
arising out of the same transaction or occurrence as alleged in this
Complaint that is either pending or was previously filed and
dismissed, transferred or otherwise disposed of after having been
assigned to a Judge in this Court.
______________________________________________________________________________

COMPLAINT AND JURY REQUEST

Plaintiff Dorothy Greene, as personal representative of the Estate of Stephen Greene, by

and between her attorneys Ernst & Marko, PLC, states the following for her Complaint against

the above-named Defendants:

Page 1 of 9
 INTRODUCTION

The City of Canton, by and through its 911 Dispatch Emergency Operators, endangered

the lives of its 91,000 citizens- the very people the operators had sworn to serve and protect.

These Emergency Operators unbelievably and alarmingly decided to turn off the 911

dispatch phone so that they did not have to do the job they had sworn and gotten paid to do; one

dispatcher stating she did so because she was having a bad day. Her day was not as bad as one of

these endangered citizens, Mr. Stephen Greene, who went into emergent cardiac arrest and relied

on 911 emergency services to save his life. Thirteen calls made on Mr. Greene’s behalf to

Canton’s 911 dispatch went ignored, the callers hearing nothing but the empty ringing of an

unanswered line. Mr. Green ultimately died because the multiple, continuous pleas for

emergency medical treatment made by those around him were disregarded.

Who knows who else’s call went ignored to Canton’s 911 dispatch during this time.

Crime victims? Other medical emergencies? Clearly the 911 system in Canton is broken and

endangering the lives of its citizens.

Mr. Greene’s estate now brings a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Greene and his family for his

untimely, unnecessary, and preventable death, in hopes of seeking justice and exposing Canton’s

reprehensible misconduct.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff Dorothy Greene is Stephen Greene’s surviving spouse, as well as the

personal representative of his Estate. She resides in Wayne County, Michigan.

2. Stephen Greene, now deceased, was a 69-year-old man who resided in Belleville,

Michigan.

Page 2 of 9
 3. Defendant Rachel Rowell is a 911 Emergency Operator employed by the Canton

Public Safety Dispatch Center, who, upon information and belief, a resident of Wayne County,

Michigan.

4. Defendant Joshua Choroba is a 911 Emergency Operator employed by the Canton

Public Safety Dispatch Center, who, upon information and belief, a resident of Wayne County,

Michigan.

5. The transactions and occurrences giving rise to this action took place in Wayne

County, Michigan.

6. The amount in controversy greatly exceeds this Court’s jurisdictional

requirement.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

7. Plaintiff, by reference, incorporates the preceding paragraphs as though fully set

forth herein.

8. On February 18, 2018, decedent Stephen Greene presented to the hospital with

altered mental status secondary to marked hypoglycemia.

9. On February 27, 2018, after being successfully treated, decedent was transferred

to Heartland Health Care Center in Canton, Michigan for rehabilitation.

10. About two days later, on March 1, decedent began suffering from a severe heart

attack.

11. Numerous calls were made to 911 by Heartland Health Care employees in order

to get medical assistance to decedent.

Page 3 of 9
 12. However, unbeknownst to decedent or the Heartland staff, Defendant Rachel

Rowell had turned the volume completely off on the 911 emergency telephone line because she

was having a “bad day” and no longer wanted to answer emergency calls.

13. Defendant Joshua Choroba assumed Defendant Rowell’s dispatch duties and the

ringer on the 911 emergency telephone line remained off.

14. Because of this, Defendants were unable to hear when Heartland staff called on

behalf of decedent, and subsequently was unable to dispatch an ambulance to provide medical

assistance or transport to decedent.

15. Decedent did not receive critical treatment in time and, due to the delay between

the onset of his heart attack and receiving any type of treatment, he ultimately died.

16. Stephen Greene was pronounced dead the next day, March 2, 2018.

17. As a direct and proximate result of the negligent and/or grossly negligent and/or

intentional acts and/or omissions committed by Defendants and their employees, staff and/or

agents, decedent suffered the following injuries and damages:

a. Physical pain and suffering;

b. Severe emotional trauma, fright, shock, mortification;

c. Premature death; and

d. Others to be discovered through the course of litigation.

COUNT I - GROSS NEGLIGENCE / LIABILITY UNDER MCL 691.1407

18. Plaintiff, by reference, incorporates the preceding paragraphs as though fully set

forth herein.

19. Defendants owed certain duties to the general public, and decedent in particular,

to provide emergency 911 operator services.

Page 4 of 9
 20. Dispatch center operators do not have the authority to ignore calls and, in fact,

have an affirmative duty to faithfully and reasonably discharge the obligations of their position.

21. It is reasonably foreseeable that injured persons or individuals in emergency

situations will call 911 for assistance--in fact, that is the prominent reason that 911 exists.

22. Defendants demonstrated a substantial lack of concern for whether injury resulted

to decedent by turning the volume down on the 911 emergency operator telephone line, resulting

in dispatchers not being able to hear when it rang and essentially ignoring emergency calls.

23. Decedent relied on Defendants’ emergency medical services to his detriment.

24. Pursuant to MCL 691.1407(2), an individual acting on behalf of a government

agency is immune from tort liability only if all of the following are met:

a. The officer, employee, member, or volunteer is acting or reasonably believes

he or she is acting within the scope of his or her authority.

b. The governmental agency is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a

governmental function.

c. The officer's, employee's, member's, or volunteer's conduct does not amount

to gross negligence that is the proximate cause of the injury or damage.

25. At all times relevant, although Defendant’s were acting in the course of their

employment, they were not acting, nor could they reasonably believe they were acting in the

scope of their authority.

26. Defendants conduct or failure to act that was so reckless that it demonstrates a

substantial lack of concern for whether an injury will result.

27. The grossly negligent acts of Defendants, as outlined above, are the proximate

cause of decedent’s death.

COUNT II – INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

Page 5 of 9
 28. Plaintiff, by reference, incorporates the preceding paragraphs as though fully set

forth herein.

29. Defendant’s conduct as outlined above was intentional.

30. Defendants’ conduct was extreme, outrageous, and of such character as not to be

tolerated by a civilized society.

31. Defendants’ conduct resulted in severe and serious emotional distress.

32. Pursuant to MCL 691.1407(3), Defendant’s intentional torts are not shielded by

Michigan’s governmental immunity statute․ Sudul v City of Hamtramck, 221 Mich App 455,

458; 562 NW2d 478 (1997).

33. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff has been

damaged in the manner outlined above.

COUNT III - WRONGFUL DEATH

34. Plaintiff, by reference, incorporates the preceding paragraphs as though fully set

forth herein.

35. The wrongful acts and/or omissions, neglect and/or fault of Defendants and their

agents/employees as set forth above resulted in the wrongful death of Stephen Greene.

36. This wrongful death claim is cognizable under MCL 600.2922.

37. Decedent’s estate incurred medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for

which Defendants are liable.

38. Plaintiff, Dorothy Greene, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Stephen

Greene, Deceased, seeks all economic and non-economic damages allowed under the Michigan

Wrongful Death Act, MCL 600.2922.

Page 6 of 9
 39. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff has been

damaged in the manner outlined above.

CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests this Honorable Court grant Judgment in

her favor and against Defendants in the amount of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000.00).

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Jonathan R. Marko

Jonathan R. Marko (P72450)
Ernst & Marko Law, PLC
Attorney for Plaintiff
645 Griswold St, Ste 4100
Detroit, Michigan 48226
[email protected]

Dated: February 18, 2019

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on February 18, 2019, I presented the foregoing

paper to this Court which will send notification of such filing to the
above listed attorneys of record.

/s/ Marissa Williams

Page 7 of 9
 STATE OF MICHIGAN

WAYNE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

DOROTHY GREENE, as personal

representative of the Estate of
STEPHEN GREENE,

Plaintiff,
Case No: 19- -NO
vs. Honorable

CANTON POLICE DEPARTMENT,

CANTON PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCH
CENTER, and JANE DOE, an individual,

Defendants.
______________________________________________________________________________

JONATHAN R. MARKO (P72450)

Attorney for Plaintiff
Ernst & Marko Law, PLC
645 Griswold Street, Suite 4100
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Phone: (313) 965-5555
Fax: (313) 965-5556
[email protected]
_____________________________________________________________________________

REQUEST FOR JURY TRIAL

Plaintiff hereby requests a trial by jury in the above-captioned matter.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Jonathan R. Marko

Jonathan R. Marko (P72450)
Ernst & Marko Law, PLC
Attorney for Plaintiff
645 Griswold St, Ste 4100
Detroit, Michigan 48226
[email protected]

Dated: February 18, 2019

Page 8 of 9
 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on February 18, 2019, I presented the foregoing

paper to this Court which will send notification of such filing to the
above listed attorneys of record.

/s/ Marissa Williams

Page 9 of 9