Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claims ADT Failed to Alert Officers to Kansas Fire

The suit charges ADT with two counts of negligence and one count of fraud, deception and breaching the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and its agreement with the victim.

TOPEKA, Kansas — ADT has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a minor whose mother died of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from inhaling smoke inside her burning home, the Kansas City Star reported.

In August 2016, ADT received two alarms at the burning Topeka home of Elizabeth Frost, 36, who was inside the residence. ADT did not alert authorities and “inexplicably … fully cleared” the incident about an hour before Frost’s lifeless body was pulled from the home, according to the suit filed July 11 in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

The suit accuses the security services provider of negligence, fraud, deception and breaching the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and its agreement with Frost. It seeks damages for Frost’s pain prior to her death and subsequent medical expenses, as well as damages for the loss suffered by Frost’s child.

Firefighters did not respond to Frost’s home until after city employees noticed the fire and called 911 around 3 a.m., the newspaper reported.

ADT received the first alarm at the home, for a broken glass window, about 90 minutes earlier. The second alarm, for a failure of the home system’s main keypad, was received two minutes later, according to the lawsuit.

An employee with ADT attempted to contact Frost three times, according to the suit. The employee also attempted to contact Frost’s mother twice. All calls went unanswered.

But at 2:04 a.m., about 30 minutes after the first alarm, the employee cleared the incident, the suit says. The employee made no attempt to contact first responders, the newspaper reported.

The suit alleges the security company fraudulently misrepresented its services to customers.

ADT made statements on its website ensuring customers that if an ADT employee couldn’t make contact with a resident under an alarm, “the authorities will be notified,” according to the suit.

“These representations were known to be false or untrue by (ADT),” the suit says, “or were recklessly made without knowledge concerning them.”

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