On May 19, 2018, plaintiffs’ decedent Ruby Andersen, 76, a resident of the City and County of San Francisco’s state-licensed Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, located on the campus of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, left the facility without an escort. She left the facility alone to buy batteries for her hearing aids at a drug store a couple of blocks away, but she never returned. Andersen was diabetic and dependent on insulin. She also had a significant hearing impairment, was a medicated schizophrenic, and posed a significant fall risk. Although she had been resident of the facility for several years, she had recently been diagnosed with dementia. As a result, her primary care physician recommended that Andersen be transferred to a skilled nursing facility or to a facility that would provide a higher level of care. It was also recommended that Andersen have an "escort" with her at all times whenever she left the facility for doctor’s appointments and/or errands. Approximately 20 hours after Andersen failed to return, her family was notified. Staff from the Residential Care Facility for the Elderly also filed a missing person report with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. However, no physical search for Andersen was made. On May 30, 2018, 11 days after she disappeared, Andersen was found dead. She was discovered trapped in an interior stairwell of an adjacent city-owned engineering building. Andersen’s adult children (Sibyl Moore, Charlene Roberts, Antonio Rucker and Thomas Anderson) sued the City and County of San Francisco. The decedent’s family alleged that the actions of the City and County of San Francisco, through its staff with the Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, constituted elder abuse. They also alleged that the City and County of San Francisco failed to adequately maintain the adjacent building, creating a dangerous condition. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Andersen was able to enter the engineering building through a main entrance door that was supposed to remain locked to prevent entry by the general public. Once inside, Andersen was able to enter an exit door into an interior stairwell, which, when opened, had an alarm that was designed to emit a shrill siren to alert city employees that the door had been breached. However, counsel contended that the alarm was admittedly defective and did not sound. As a result, once the door closed behind Andersen, she could not reopen it from her side. Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that the City and County of San Francisco committed elder abuse. Specifically, counsel asserted that the City and County of San Francisco was reckless in its disregard for the safety and life of Andersen, in violation of California Welfare and Institutions Code § 15600 et seq., and in violation of its current state-issued license to operate a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, which prohibited it from retaining a resident with dementia. Plaintiffs’ counsel also asserted that the City and County of San Francisco was negligent for creating the dangerous condition of the unlocked building and doors of the engineering building, and for failing to maintain the alarmed exit door in the interior stairwell. Counsel further asserted that the unlocked building was dangerous, as it was located on the campus of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, where numerous patients can access the building. Defense counsel denied there was any elder abuse or reckless disregard for the life of Andersen. Counsel contended that the residents of the Residential Care Facility for the Elderly were encouraged to live independently, and were free to come and go from the facility as they chose. Counsel also asserted that Andersen was not diagnosed with dementia and that Andersen did not require an escort when she left the facility. Defense counsel further asserted that the engineering building, where Andersen’s body was found, did not constitute a dangerous condition., Andersen remained trapped in the interior stairwell of the city-owned engineering building, where she died of starvation and dehydration. Andersen’s four adult children sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of Andersen’s love, companionship, comfort, care, advice, assistance, protection, affection, solace and moral support. They also sought recovery of economic damages for funeral expenses. Defense counsel asserted that Andersen died from chronic kidney disease and that Andersen’s life expectancy was only two to three years.