In a recent nursing home abuse case that our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers discussed in a blog, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea, Minnesota, was sued, after nursing home residents were reportedly subjected to a pattern of nursing home abuse over a period of around five months by nursing assistants in 2008.
Another lawsuit was filed last week in the same elder abuse incident, seeking damages from Good Samaritan, and accusing the supervisors of nursing home negligence for failing to screen employees to prevent abuse. The lawsuit claims that the nursing home failed to properly supervise the four nursing assistants, who are accused of abusing patients in a sexual, physical and emotional way.
In the original case filed earlier this year, the four former nursing assistants were accused of physically and emotionally abusing fifteen Alzheimer’s and dementia patients while videotaping the abuse. The nurses were accused of civil assault, battery and causing emotional distress, and the nursing home was accused of failing to protect the elderly residents from abuse and neglect, and neglecting to properly supervise the nursing aides.
This is the fourth civil lawsuit filed in South Dakota connected with the case, filed on behalf of Beverly Butts. It is similar to the Freeborn County case from January, but the reported victims named in the case have since died, and according to the Globe Gazette, when Minnesota victims die, liability goes away. But family members of the victim can pursue claims in South Dakota, as Sioux Falls is the headquarters for the nursing home chain.
The main question that still remains unanswered to the families of the victims, is how the four nurses aides could have engaged in such aggressive assault and battery for four to six months, without anyone hearing the abuse of the residents or finding out about the violence.
In the ongoing lawsuits for the former teenage nursing aides, two of the four cases were handled in juvenile court, but the other two nursing assistants face adult charges next month, when the trials are reportedly scheduled to take place in Freeborn County District Court.
It is a violation of State and Federal law for any person including nursing staff, visitors, family members or guardians to neglect or abuse a resident. If a Maryland nursing home resident becomes injured or dies because the nursing home neglected to protect the health and safety of the resident, the nursing home could be held liable for Maryland nursing home negligence or wrongful death. Our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represent victims and their families who wish to recover personal injury compensation from nursing home negligence and harm. Contact us today.
Another Lawsuit in Albert Lea Elder Abuse Case, Globe Gazette, June 17, 2010
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