‘There’s a Lot I Want to Do’ : Woman Held as Retarded 42 Years Wins $235,000

An elderly woman today accepted a $235,000 settlement in a federal suit against the state claiming that she was kept in an institution for the retarded for 42 years against her will.

Gladys Tyler Burr, 78, was wheeled from the courtroom in an office chair after the settlement, smiling and clutching the hand of her lawyer, Richard Altschuler of West Haven.

“There’s a lot I want to do,” the woman whispered to reporters crowded around her chair. “I won my freedom.”

She said the first things she wanted to do with her money were buy some ice cream, take her lawyer to lunch and give $60 to the church.

Burr sued former Mental Retardation Commissioner Gareth D. Thorne for false imprisonment and on a number of other charges, including being forced to work without pay, in 1978.

The award included a $75,000 deduction to reimburse the state for Medicaid and other aid payments during the 42 years, bringing the net award to $160,000, from which Burr must pay her lawyer.

Burr was committed to the institution in 1936 by her family for “a variety of psychiatric problems,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Francis J. McGregor said. She was then 29.

Altschuler said the state never claimed that she was retarded and that tests as early as 1946 had showed her IQ to be between 95 and 103, while the definition of retardation is about 70 points.

McGregor called the settlement fair and maintained that Burr had never asked to be released from Mansfield Training School during her 42 years there. She was released in 1978 and has been living in a convalescent home.

Altschuler said Burr had asked repeatedly to be released.