Paratransit driver failed to walk a dialysis patient to his door. It was a fatal mistake
Video shows the moment Guillermo Aviles fell, leading to his death, after he was dropped off after dialysis treatment by a driver with Access Services.
A jury has ordered a Los Angeles County transit agency to pay $17.5 million to the family of a disabled man who suffered fatal injuries after being dropped off in front of his home following dialysis treatment.
Guillermo Aviles, 61, was injured when he fell to the street shortly after exiting an Access Services van in March 2020. His family sued later that year, blaming the van’s driver for not walking Aviles to his door, and an L.A. County Superior Court jury agreed, awarding the eight-figure payout Tuesday.
Access Services provides transportation to individuals in the county with disabilities.
Aviles, the father of seven and a former county MTA worker, went to a dialysis facility in Long Beach on March 27, 2020, the family’s lawsuit states. Afterward, he was exhausted from the treatment for his failed kidney, but the Access Services driver failed to walk him from the vehicle all the way to his front door — which is known as “beyond the curb” service.
After the driver, Carlos Juarez, dropped off Aviles, video from the van appears to show Juarez walk around the vehicle to get back into the driver’s seat. On the other side of the van, Aviles is seen hunched over before he tumbles to the ground in the middle of the street.
Aviles was hospitalized, put on life support and died a few months later in June 2020.
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“Safety is of utmost importance when you have a public agency in charge of transporting a vulnerable population,” said attorney Raphael Javid, who represented the Aviles family in the lawsuit against the county.
“Throughout this entire case Access Services never took accountability for their actions. The driver still works for Access today, even after a jury unanimously found that his negligence caused the death of Mr. Aviles,” said Javid. “They’ve taken no measures to correct any failures or shortcomings that caused this accident.”
While Access Services says on its website that it generally provides “curb-to-curb” service, the agency also notes that eligible customers can receive its “beyond-the-curb” service, which Aviles was signed up for in his profile, according to Javid.
The county agency contracts with private transit providers to provide the actual rides. The service moves about 108,000 disabled riders in 3.1 million trips per year, according to the agency.
Aviles’ family said they had complained repeatedly about drivers failing to assist Aviles beyond the curb, the lawsuit claims.
Access Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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