What started as a feel-good family reunion ended with a courtroom clash - and a $28.8 million fortune at the center of it all.
A 28-year-old woman from Massachusetts discovered two half-sisters through a 23andMe DNA test in early 2023.
But just a month after their emotional meet-up, she shocked them with a lawsuit demanding a share of their multi-million-dollar malpractice settlement.
A painful death and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit
Carmen Thomas took the popular home DNA test in February 2023 and uncovered a family secret - she had two biological half-sisters, Kali and Abigail Brown, per the New York Post.
Their father, Joe Brown, had died back in 2018 at the age of 43, after doctors failed to diagnose a life-threatening aortic aneurysm.
Joe was admitted to Salem Hospital in January 2018, suffering from pain in his upper abdomen that radiated to his chest and back, according to court documents.
He spent nearly 24 hours in agony, struggling to breathe, before doctors finally realized he was experiencing an aneurysm. By then, it was too late - Joe died the next day.
Kali, Abigail, and their mother, Kristin, later sued the hospital for medical malpractice. They claimed the delay in diagnosing Joe’s condition cost him his life. A jury agreed and awarded the grieving family a massive $28.8 million payout in April 2023.
Carmen Thomas shared these images online. Credit: Mass Superior Court
A reunion turns sour over a $28.8M payout
That same month, Thomas reached out to Kali and introduced herself as their sister. They met in person, and the moment was documented in photos.
But the reunion, it turns out, was far from the happy family bonding Thomas had hoped for.
Just weeks after that first meeting - and the news of the financial award - Thomas filed a lawsuit against her half-sisters, seeking a cut of the settlement.
In her legal filing, Thomas highlighted their initial get-together and shared pictures to show what seemed like a cheerful reunion. But the Browns painted a very different picture in their opposition.
Abigail and Kali were reportedly “very upset and hesitant” to meet Thomas, but agreed to do so out of kindness, according to court filings. Things escalated quickly after that.
The Browns claimed Thomas became “very assertive and possessive” from the start, demanding money and attention from the family.
Their attorney, Joseph Lipchitz, described troubling behavior in the legal documents, writing that Thomas “attempted to prey on the family financially and emotionally by demanding that they pay for her gas, food, and alcohol,” and even threatened to harm herself when they didn’t respond to her messages.
Once Thomas found out about the $28.8 million verdict, things “quickly unraveled,” Lipchitz said.
“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 affront to this Court,” he wrote in court documents.
The 23andMe test caused a lawsuit. Credit: Smith Collection/Gado / Getty
Doubts over her connection and a legal win for the family
The family was blindsided by the lawsuit.
“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 told the Wall Street Journal.
By early April, the sisters had cut off all contact with Thomas. In court, they went so far as to question the family connection entirely, stating that Thomas’ mother had never come forward to confirm any past relationship with Joe Brown.
Lipchitz said the case ultimately “was resolved favorably” for the Brown family. One factor was timing - Thomas’ legal claim came too long after Joe’s death to hold up in court.