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Your Case
Claims Against Nursing Homes
Case: Multiple Residents Abused
Nursing home litigation in Oregon can be brought against nursing homes or their employees on several grounds.
The Elder Abuse Act, Oregon Revised Statute 124.100, permits an elderly person or that person's guardian ad litem to bring a civil action against the person directly responsible for the physical or fiduciary abuse of the elderly person and any person who permitted the abuse to occur. If successful, the elderly person is awarded attorney fees and guardian ad litem fees in addition to the verdict.
A negligence claim may be brought against a nursing home when an injury relates to the nursing home's breach of its duty of care to the resident or the nursing home's violation of a statutory or regulatory requirement. The federal Nursing Home Reform Act and the state statutes relating to nursing homes, Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 411, set out standards of nursing care and safety to protect residents from injury caused by abuse or neglect. These statutes describe the nursing home's obligation to provide a minimum number of competent care givers for each shift, its obligation to develop an individualized care plan for each resident and to follow that plan, and its obligation to prevent abuse to its residents.
If the resident dies as a result of the negligent or abusive care, or if a wrongfully injured resident later dies for reasons unrelated to the care, a personal representative of the deceased resident may bring what is called a survival action under Oregon Revised Statute 30.075 against the nursing home and, if successful, collect attorney fees in addition to any damages assessed.
There is the possibility of a breach of contract claim. Money was paid to the facility to provide a certain quality of care. The admission agreement may contain promises about the type and quality of services that the nursing home has agreed to provided in exchange for a fee. If such service was not provided, the resident or his or her representative may be entitled to a full or partial refund of such monies. Other breach of contract cases, and sometimes fraud cases, arise from mismanagement of a resident's assets, or billing for services that were not in provided.
Prosecuting nursing home cases is important work. We respect that we are representing an extremely vulnerable person who needs help. Such claims also hold out the prospect of improving nursing home care.
Multiple Residents abused
Lara Johnson represented the families of several nursing home residents who were subjected to neglectful and abusive care at a nursing home. The administrator had been informed by staff working there that they observed a specific employee physically or verbally abusing residents. The facility did not report the abuse, as required by State law; it did not conduct a proper investigation into the allegations; nor did it discipline the employee when it became apparent that there was an increase in the number of unexplained physical injuries to residents.
All but one of the cases was successfully mediated with each resident receiving compensation for their injuries and the facility's breach of its contract with them. The remaining case was submitted to a formal binding arbitration. The family of the then deceased resident's family was awarded a substantial confidential sum.
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