- File: Ben DeFlorio
- Al and Debbie Wood holding a photo of their daughter Naomi
Updated at 4:04 p.m.
A Florida judge has ruled that a Vermont family can't pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against a faith-based organization that ran a boarding school where 17-year-old Naomi Wood died suddenly in May 2020.
Instead, Judge Michael McDaniel ordered the Wood family to resolve their conflict with Adult & Teen Challenge USA through Christian arbitration, an alternative to litigation governed by Biblical principles and presided over by a Christian mediator, not a judge.
The teen experienced chronic stomach pain in the month before she died, but school staff denied her request to see a doctor and did not consult with a physician about Naomi’s medical problems, a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation found. Instead, staff gave her Pepto-Bismol, fed her soup and prayed for her to get better as she vomited repeatedly on the day before she died.
Staff members only called 911 after Naomi was found unresponsive in her dorm room. She was later pronounced dead.
On Naomi’s initial autopsy report, released in 2020, Polk County medical examiner Stephen Nelson listed the cause of death as “seizure disorder.” After the Wood family presented additional medical information from Naomi’s doctor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Children’s Hospital, Nelson amended the death certificate in December 2022, reclassifying the teen’s cause of death as “undetermined.”
But in an order last month, Judge McDaniel wrote that the Woods do not have standing in court. That's because the family signed a Christian Conciliation and Arbitration Agreement before enrolling Naomi at the academy, McDaniel wrote. By signing the document, the family waived its right to sue. Instead, any dispute would involve religious arbitration.
The Woods had argued that the agreement wasn't binding because the former directors of Lakeland Girls Academy hadn't signed it. Judge McDaniel, however, also rejected that claim.
A Florida judge has ruled that a Vermont family can't pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against a faith-based organization that ran a boarding school where 17-year-old Naomi Wood died suddenly in May 2020.
Instead, Judge Michael McDaniel ordered the Wood family to resolve their conflict with Adult & Teen Challenge USA through Christian arbitration, an alternative to litigation governed by Biblical principles and presided over by a Christian mediator, not a judge.
In a statement to Seven Days, Naomi's parents, Al and Debbie Wood, and their eldest son, Nehemiah, said they were disappointed by the judge's decision. They called on the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the State of Florida to reopen the investigation into Naomi's death at Lakeland Girls Academy.
It is "clear to any reasonable person that Naomi died due to abuse, neglect and medical neglect because of the repeated, willful and culpable negligence of Lakeland Girls Academy and Teen Challenge,” the Woods said. “All records indicate that there were numerous signs that she needed urgent emergency medical attention, especially in her last days of life. However, Lakeland Girls Academy and Teen Challenge repeatedly ignored those signs and did not take her medical condition seriously.”
Naomi Wood's death at one of the organization's schools, and her family's quest for justice, was the subject of a September 2022 cover story in Seven Days. Al and Debbie live in Barnard.
Adult & Teen Challenge is an organization affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church that runs programs for teens, as well as drug and alcohol recovery centers for adults.
Naomi Wood's death at one of the organization's schools, and her family's quest for justice, was the subject of a September 2022 cover story in Seven Days. Al and Debbie live in Barnard.
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An investigation by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office produced no criminal charges, despite a 2021 report from the Florida Child Protection Team that found there were "verified findings" that Naomi's death stemmed from medical neglect.
The teen experienced chronic stomach pain in the month before she died, but school staff denied her request to see a doctor and did not consult with a physician about Naomi’s medical problems, a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation found. Instead, staff gave her Pepto-Bismol, fed her soup and prayed for her to get better as she vomited repeatedly on the day before she died.
Staff members only called 911 after Naomi was found unresponsive in her dorm room. She was later pronounced dead.
On Naomi’s initial autopsy report, released in 2020, Polk County medical examiner Stephen Nelson listed the cause of death as “seizure disorder.” After the Wood family presented additional medical information from Naomi’s doctor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Children’s Hospital, Nelson amended the death certificate in December 2022, reclassifying the teen’s cause of death as “undetermined.”
But in an order last month, Judge McDaniel wrote that the Woods do not have standing in court. That's because the family signed a Christian Conciliation and Arbitration Agreement before enrolling Naomi at the academy, McDaniel wrote. By signing the document, the family waived its right to sue. Instead, any dispute would involve religious arbitration.
The Woods had argued that the agreement wasn't binding because the former directors of Lakeland Girls Academy hadn't signed it. Judge McDaniel, however, also rejected that claim.
Unlike court cases, religious arbitration is private, shielding Adult & Teen Challenge from additional public scrutiny.
- Courtesy
- Naomi (right) with her family
Lakeland Girls Academy closed in March 2022 amid dwindling enrollment, but Adult & Teen Challenge still runs similar programs across the country. The facilities are part of the unregulated “troubled teen” industry that has been criticized by former students and staff members for physical and psychological abuse, medical neglect and religious indoctrination.
In Vermont, Adult & Teen Challenge operates a Christian drug and alcohol treatment center for men in Johnson and one for women in Hardwick. Participants in the men's programs sell handmade cutting boards outside of businesses and at local markets.
Other families have had similar difficulties with Adult & Teen Challenge. In 2012, Pamela Spivey filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Teen Challenge of Florida on behalf of her late son Nicklaus Ellison, who died of a drug overdose shortly after leaving one of the organization's addiction treatment programs.
In that case, a Florida court also compelled religious arbitration.
In Vermont, Adult & Teen Challenge operates a Christian drug and alcohol treatment center for men in Johnson and one for women in Hardwick. Participants in the men's programs sell handmade cutting boards outside of businesses and at local markets.
Lawyers for Adult & Teen Challenge did not respond to Seven Days' requests for comment. A Polk County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told Seven Days on Monday that there was no factual basis for reopening the investigation into Naomi's death.
Other families have had similar difficulties with Adult & Teen Challenge. In 2012, Pamela Spivey filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Teen Challenge of Florida on behalf of her late son Nicklaus Ellison, who died of a drug overdose shortly after leaving one of the organization's addiction treatment programs.
In that case, a Florida court also compelled religious arbitration.
Alex Hunt, the Wood’s Florida-based attorney, said in an email that it is “quite common” for Florida courts, and others in the U.S., to stay litigation and compel arbitration.
Teen Challenge likely has provisions for religious arbitration in all of its employment and student enrollment contracts, Hunt said, “and I have not found a single case where the courts have not enforced the arbitration agreement.”
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