PROTECTING CALIFORNIA'S ELDERLY AND DISABLED AGAINST NURSING HOME ABUSE

Morris v. Longwood Management

This elder abuse case involved a poor, paraplegic man (Kenneth Morris) who lost his leg because of the nursing home’s extreme negligence and conduct the jury found “despicable.” The plaintiff was a poor, schizophrenic, paraplegic man who lives in a nursing facility. The defendant allowed a simple pressure sore in his heel to become so festered and infected that they had to amputate his leg. The loss could have been avoided simply by placing a pillow under his foot. Further, evidence showed that the facility’s policy of profits over people led to drastic under-funding and under-staffing, which resulted in the failure to follow individual care plans and to monitor conditions adequately. The state requires 3.2 hours if individual care per resident per day, but the facility had only met that requirement three days of the month preceding the amputation.

Mr. Morris received an award of $12 million in punitive damages, the second largest elder abuse verdict in California. More importantly, this verdict will make both the defendants and other nursing homes stand up and take notice, hopefully encouraging them to follow the law on staffing and care so that this type of tragedy can be avoided. There were no settlement offers prior to trial and the attorneys put in over 1,200 attorney hours and risked over $150,000 in costs to advance the case. Elder abuse cases are particularly challenging for attorneys, as often the key witness (the resident) is infirm, disabled, or senile and unable to participate as witness.

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