A poorly run nursing home staffed by people whose backgrounds are not sufficiently investigated, where supervision is poor and abuse is overlooked is a place where it’s just a matter of time before a crime occurs. The victim will likely be a vulnerable senior says Boca Raton nursing home neglect lawyer Joe Osborne.
If you are concerned that your loved one may be the victim of a crime at their nursing home and would like additional reading on the subject, please read: Boca Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Says Nursing Homes Can Be Crime Scenes.
Earlier this month a woman from the Tampa Bay area was arrested and is facing a charge of abuse or neglect of an aged or disabled person because police accuse her of beating a resident of an assisted living facility with his own leg brace. Raven Sonota Eduardo is the one accused, an employee of the Loving Care Nursing Home in St. Petersburg, according to WFLA.1
After the police received a call of a worker abusing a resident from the facility they went there and looked at surveillance video which showed the victim being struck repeatedly, providing enough evidence to justify an arrest. Police are investigating whether there may be other victims at the facility and have asked the public for information about other possible instances of abuse by this employee.
The facility’s administrator, Rene Bird, says they started an investigation, looked at the video and contacted the police. Eduardo told management the resident attacked her and she defended herself but the video contradicts her claim. The facility asked Eduardo to work an extra shift but the real reason was to have her arrested by police officers who were at the facility waiting for her.
Nursing home and assisted living facility residents can be the victims of any number of crimes, which are only limited by the imagination of those willing and able to victimize them, says Joe Osborne Boca nursing home abuse attorney. These crimes can include:
Assault and battery
Sexual assault and rape
Larceny and theft
Manslaughter or murder
Though it’s an individual employee or a group of them committing the crime, depending on the facts of the case the nursing home may be held accountable for the crime and be responsible for paying compensation to the victim due to the physical, psychological and emotional harm caused.
There are several mistakes a nursing home could make, possibly resulting in a negligence claim, after a crime is committed.
Nursing home management should perform criminal background checks and contact prior employers before hiring someone. This is to try to screen out job applicants who have harmed nursing home residents in the past. If this isn’t done at all or is done poorly, it could lead to a resident being victimized.
Employees need to be properly supervised and any complaints or evidence an employee may have harmed a resident needs to be investigated. If evidence is found corrective action needs to be taken, including, when appropriate, firing the person and contacting the police.
If management learns an employee has been arrested and criminally charged for an incident outside the facility, it needs to decide if having such a person work around residents is worth the risk to their health and safety.
If a family member living in an assisted living facility or nursing home in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach Counties and is the victim of a crime, contact Boca Raton nursing home neglect lawyer Joe Osborne at (561) 800-4011 or fill out this online contact form. We can talk about the situation, how the law could apply in your case and the best legal options to protect your rights and obtain compensation for your loved one’s injuries.
Press Contact:
Personal injury lawyer Joseph Osborne
561-800-4011
Footnotes:
1 WFLA http://wfla.com/2017/02/04/police-alf-worker-beat-patient-with-a-hollow-leg-brace-repeatedly/
