Highlands Behavioral Health Lawsuits: Death, OSHA, and Abuse

Highlands Behavioral Health System, a psychiatric hospital in Littleton, Colorado, has faced more than a decade of lawsuits and government enforcement actions, including a wrongful death suit over a patient’s fentanyl-related death, an OSHA citation for workplace violence, and federal inspection findings involving sexual abuse and unreported assaults. The 86-bed facility is operated by UHS of Denver, Inc., a subsidiary of Universal Health Services.

The Carson Magines Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In October 2015, the family of Carson Magines, a 22-year-old Lakewood resident, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Highlands Behavioral Health in Denver District Court. Magines had voluntarily entered the facility for treatment of depression and addiction and died nine days later.¹

The complaint alleged the facility over-medicated Magines with fentanyl, failed to monitor him, and neglected him as he showed signs of distress including slurred speech, incoherence, and vomiting. The family also accused staff of attempting to cover up the circumstances of his death.¹

An unannounced inspection by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment after the death found the fentanyl had been administered at a dosage different from what the physician prescribed. Facility records claimed staff checked on Magines every 15 minutes overnight and reported him “snoring,” but inspectors concluded he was quite likely already dead at the times those checks were supposedly made. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office also investigated. Highlands denied the allegations, said it believed the evidence would show it “met the standard of care,” and reported that it corrected the violations identified by the state. Public records do not show a final resolution of the case.¹

OSHA Workplace Violence Citation

OSHA opened an investigation in October 2018 after an anonymous employee complaint about workplace violence and the absence of a violence prevention plan. Investigators interviewed 22 employees and members of management. In April 2019, OSHA issued a serious citation against UHS of Denver for failing to protect employees from workplace violence hazards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause, proposing a penalty of $11,934.²

Evidence at a 14-day trial in the summer of 2021 described a pattern of patient-on-employee violence. Employees reported being choked, kicked in the head and chest, bitten, dragged, and having their hair ripped out. Staff members suffered dislocated shoulders while restraining patients, and assaults behind nurse stations were common. Incidents were more frequent during evening and overnight shifts, when staffing was lowest.³

UHS conceded three of the four elements needed to prove the violation before the hearing. The Secretary of Labor had proposed ten abatement measures, including reconfiguring nurse stations, giving communication devices to all staff, continuously monitoring security cameras, developing a workplace violence prevention program, ensuring adequate staffing, and replacing furniture that could be used as a weapon.⁴

The administrative law judge initially affirmed the citation and penalty. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission set that ruling aside in December 2022 and remanded the case. As of July 2023, the decision on remand became a final order of the Commission.⁵

Sexual Abuse Findings and Inspection Deficiencies

Federal inspectors have documented repeated patient safety failures. In June 2024, they recorded an incident in which a patient was found in another patient’s room engaged in sexual intercourse; the patient later tested positive for trichomoniasis. In May and June 2024, inspectors noted multiple unreported assaults and a missing-person event in which a patient left the campus without authorization. Facility records indicated no incidents had been reported to the state since July 2023.¹

Inspectors also found in May 2024 that the facility failed to update care plans and safety measures after repeated assaults. In one case, a patient placed on both sexual aggression and sexual victimization precautions did not receive the increased supervision those designations would require.

The deficiencies stretch back years. A public database of inspection records shows Highlands was cited in April 2025, January 2025, August 2024, June 2024, July 2023, August 2020, July 2015, and multiple times in 2013 and earlier. Categories have included patient rights, care in a safe setting, nursing services, patient safety, infection control, compliance with laws, and administration of drugs. A February 2011 inspection alone cited 22 health deficiencies covering governing body operations, medical staff, pharmacy, and physical environment issues.⁶

Other Civil Cases

In August 2020, Joshua Burley Mullins filed a civil rights lawsuit against Highlands Behavioral Health and Thomas Vertrees in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The case was classified as a prisoner civil rights and habeas corpus action. After a magistrate judge ordered the plaintiff to cure filing deficiencies within 30 days, Judge Lewis T. Babcock dismissed the case on October 7, 2020.⁷

In an earlier case, former employee Heindel Siribuor, a pro se attorney, sued UHS of Denver over Title VII harassment and racial discrimination claims. The district court enforced a settlement agreement Siribuor tried to withdraw from and imposed sanctions in the form of attorney’s fees. The Tenth Circuit affirmed in April 2013, finding Siribuor had knowingly and voluntarily authorized the settlement.⁸

The Universal Health Services Backdrop

The litigation at Highlands sits inside a larger legal history for its parent company. In July 2020, UHS and related entities paid $122 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that the company billed for medically unnecessary inpatient behavioral health services, failed to provide adequate care, and paid illegal kickbacks. As part of the settlement, UHS entered a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General, running through March 2026, requiring an independent monitor to assess patient care protections across the company’s behavioral health division.⁹

In March 2024, a jury in Champaign County, Illinois, ordered Pavilion Behavioral Health System, another UHS subsidiary, to pay $535 million in damages after a 13-year-old patient was raped by another patient in 2020. The award included $60 million in compensatory damages and $475 million in punitive damages. Plaintiff’s attorneys alleged that understaffing made the facility difficult to monitor. UHS has said it intends to challenge the verdict on appeal, calling it “unprecedented” and “excessive.”¹⁰¹¹

1
CBS News Colorado. Lakewood Family Files Lawsuit Against Health Center After Young Man Dies
2
OSHA. OSHA News Release – UHS of Denver Inc.
3
OSHRC. UHS of Denver, OSHRC Docket No. 19-0550, Decision
4
OSHRC. Commission Issues Decision and Remand in UHS of Denver
5
OSHRC. ALJ Decision in UHS of Denver Becomes a Final Order of the Commission
6
Hospital Inspections. Highlands Behavioral Health System Inspection Results
7
PACER Monitor. Mullins v. Highlands Behavioral Health et al
8
Justia. Siribuor v. UHS of Denver, No. 12-1372
9
U.S. Department of Justice. Universal Health Services Inc. and Related Entities Pay $122 Million to Settle False Claims Act
10
Healthcare Dive. Universal Health Services $535M Negligence Court Pavilion
11
SEC. UHS SEC Filing