On March 14, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Brandon Jacques, 20, a student who also worked for his parents’ contracting company, was admitted to Morningside Recovery, in Newport Beach, at a cost of $25,000 per month. Jacques, who suffered from bulimia and binge alcohol abuse, was admitted to the treatment center in order to treat his eating disorder. Morningside Recovery, which has since relocated to Irvine, had advertised itself as being qualified to treat “dual diagnosis” patients, such as Jacques. Jacques first sought treatment for his alcoholism and bulimia at A Sober Way Home, in Prescott, Ariz., but only showed improvement in regard to his alcohol abuse. As a result, A Sober Way recommended that Jacques be transferred to Morningside Recovery, which allegedly had experience with dual diagnosis treatment. On April 1, 2011, after several weeks at Morningside Recovery, Jacques’ parents were told that the facility could not treat Jacques’ eating disorder and that Jacques required “higher care” in a hospital setting. Jacques’ parents and Morningside Recovery agreed that the decision as to where to move Jacques would be made the following Monday, on April 4, 2011. In the meantime, the parents believed that Jacques would safely be in the care of Morningside Recovery. However, the treatment center did not reveal that it had already transferred Jacques to First House, LLC, another, lesser, detox facility like Morningside Recovery, on March 31, 2011. First House was not licensed to treat eating disorders, and Jacques died at First House on April 2, 2011. The cause of his death was determined to be from cardiac arrest due to electrolyte imbalances that resulted from his unabated binging and purging. The decedent’s parents, Ted and Kim Jacques, and older sister, Heather Jacques, sued First House LLC; its owner and director, Richard Perlin; Morningside Recovery, LLC; A Sober Way Home Inc.; and various employees of the treatment facilities. The decedent’s family alleged that the defendants were negligent for accepting the decedent as a patient, for negligently treating the decedent, for negligently referring the decedent to First House, and for causing the decedent’s wrongful death. Prior to trial, the decedent’s sister, Heather, dismissed her individual claims against the defendants, and Morningside Recovery and various individual defendants settled with the decedent’s family for $3,875,000. The court also dismissed A Sober Way for lack of personal jurisdiction. In addition, a nonsuit was granted to Perlin after the individual claims against him were dismissed before the case was submitted to the jury. Thus, the matter continued against First House only. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that First House negligently accepted the decedent as a client and failed to refer him to a facility that could provide proper care. Counsel contended that Morningside Recovery transferred the decedent to First House as part of a deal in which First House accepted Morningside Recovery’s overflow patients at an illegal discount so that Morningside Recovery could free up beds to accommodate incoming patients and receive their substantial fees. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that Morningside Recovery’s licensure did not allow it to provide medical care. Counsel also contended that although First House was not licensed or equipped to handle individuals with eating disorders, it still accepted the decedent despite knowing he needed higher care. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that First House’s acceptance of the decedent violated both California law, and First House’s own internal policies and procedures. First House contended that it did not know Jacques had bulimia or needed higher care, as the decedent allegedly represented himself as being in excellent health. It also contended that neither Morningside Recovery nor the decedent mentioned any bulimic history on the decedent’s part. First House claimed that it never represented that it was capable of treating eating disorders. It also claimed that it accepted short-term referrals from Morningside Recovery, who were awaiting transfer to other facilities or who needed to be separated from other Morningside Recovery residents. According to First House, no previous transfer involved residents who were being transferred to medical facilities. Counsel for First House contended that First Hose was a detox center only and that it never treated, and was not licensed to treat, residents with eating disorders. Counsel also contended that First House never represented that it was capable of treating eating disorders. Thus, First House’s counsel argued that the decedent’s stay at First House was to be through the weekend only and that, accordingly, First House did not violate the standard of care. Counsel also argued that Morningside Recovery was still rendering care to the decedent while he was at First House and was, therefore, responsible. In addition, counsel for First House argued that the decedent’s death was the result of his own negligence and the negligence of his parents for allegedly failing to do enough to help their son., Brandon Jacques suffered a cardiac arrest, which was caused by electrolyte imbalances that resulted from his unabated binging and purging. He passed away on April 2, 2011. He was 20 years old. Jacques is survived by his parents and older sister. The decedent’s parents testified about how Jacques was their only son and about how the family was close. Thus, they sought recovery of wrongful death damages, as well as recovery of damages for their loss of society.