Nursing Home Abuse, Wrongful Death
In violation of numerous laws, the plaintiff’s decedent and other residents of the nursing home’s Alzheimer’s locked unit were given unprescribed morphine by a nurse for the improper purpose of restraining and disciplining them. The plaintiff’s decedent later died at a different nursing home after discharge from the hospital.
Henson Fuerst Attorneys Carma Henson and Anne Duvoisin filed suit alleging abuse and neglect, corporate negligence, res ipsa loquitur, and wrongful death. The defendants contended it was not possible to prove that one of their staff members gave the unprescribed morphine, and contended that the morphine was not a cause of the decedent’s death.
On June 25, 2014, the parties participated in a mediation with opposing trial counsel and in-house counsel for the defendants in attendance, negotiating on their behalf. The defendants offered the plaintiff $100,000 at mediation, and informed the plaintiff that they anticipated obtaining a directed verdict at trial. The mediation impassed in short order.
Plaintiff’s counsel prepared for depositions of the defendants’ CEO and owners, scheduled for July 17. After the failed mediation, the defendants approached plaintiff’s counsel through another attorney not connected to their trial counsel. The case settled prior to one of the owner’s depositions on July 17 for $1.5 million (fifteen times what was offered three weeks earlier at mediation).
Neither defendants’ trial counsel nor their in house counsel participated in the negotiation that led to the settlement. Neither the name of the case, nor the county and court, nor the case number or the identity of defense counsel may be disclosed due to confidentiality provisions contained in the settlement agreement.
The case was settled one month before a peremptory trial setting. Special damages were de minimis. Liability and damages were contested. The plaintiff has been successful in collecting the entire settlement.