‘Very assertive and possessive’: Sisters reluctantly meet half-sister they found on DNA test, but what happens after their reunion has their lawyer furious

A woman from Massachusetts found out she had two half-sisters through a 23andMe DNA test. But just one month after meeting them, she sued them to get a share of their $28.8 million malpractice settlement. Carmen Thomas, 28, took a DNA test in February 2023 and learned she was related to Kali and Abigail Brown. 

According to NY Post, their biological father, Joe Brown, died in 2018. He was only 43 years old when he passed away from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. Court documents show that Joe was admitted to Salem Hospital in January 2018 after suffering severe pain that spread from his upper stomach to his chest and back. 

He spent almost a full day struggling to breathe and in pain while doctors tried to figure out what was wrong. By the time they realized he had an aneurysm, it was too late to save him, and he died the next day. Kali, Abigail, and their mother, Kristin, sued the hospital over Joe’s death. They said the hospital’s failure to diagnose Joe quickly cost him precious hours and led to his death. A jury agreed with the family and awarded them $28.8 million in April 2023.

The Browns won millions after suing the hospital

Thomas contacted Kali in March 2023, wanting to meet her newly discovered half-sisters. This was just a month before the settlement was awarded. Thomas even shared photos on social media that seemed to show a happy reunion between the three women. But once Thomas learned about the massive payout, things changed quickly, and she filed a lawsuit against her half-sisters, hoping to get a piece of the money.

The Browns’ lawyer, Joseph Lipchitz, didn’t hold back when describing the family’s experience with Thomas. The sisters said in court documents that they were “very upset and hesitant” to meet Thomas at first. They only went against their gut feelings to be kind, something they quickly regretted. Similar to how Walmart tracked a lawyer’s movements, Thomas seemed to closely monitor the family’s financial situation.

According to court filings, Thomas became “very assertive and possessive” of the family almost right after they met. “Plaintiff’s gambit of attempting to obtain an injunction to freeze the assets of a grieving family is not only meritless, as a matter of law, it should been seen as an afront to this Court,” Lipchitz wrote. He claimed that Thomas demanded they pay for her gas, food, and alcohol. Even worse, he said she would threaten to hurt herself if they didn’t respond to her messages.

“The death of their father was extraordinarily traumatic, as you can imagine. That was compounded by this putative heir all of a sudden showing up and demanding money,” Lipchitz added.

The family was stunned by the lawsuit. Lipchitz told the Wall Street Journal that losing their father was “compounded by this putative heir all of a sudden showing up and demanding money.” The sisters decided to stop all contact with Thomas in early April. 

They even stated in court documents that they doubt the family connection because Thomas’s mother never came forward to say she had a relationship with Joe Brown. In some cases, lawyers face defending clients with absurd legal strategies, but Lipchitz successfully argued that Thomas’s claim came too late. The case was resolved in favor of the Brown family.