Wrongful Death Lawyer on Lawsuit Against Assisted Living Facility for Parent’s Wrongful Death
Lawsuit Against Assisted Living Facility Accuses Elder Abuse, Negligence, and Wrongful Death
The son of a resident at a Valencia assisted living facility says that the facility caused his mother’s wrongful death by leaving her outside in triple-digit temperatures, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. Ronald Corn, in his recently filed lawsuit, alleged that the caretakers at his mother’s facility repeatedly left his 89-year-old mother, who suffered from dementia, outside in the August heat alone and that a final, fateful occurrence of neglect directly led to his mother’s death.
Corn’s complaint accused the facility of elder abuse, negligence, fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death. The suit sought compensation for Hooker’s medical and funeral expenses, along with additional damages for pain and suffering. Corn’s lawyer told CBS Los Angeles that Hooker’s untimely death was “all about the tragedy that occurs when elder care facilities put profits over their sacred responsibility to do everything possible to protect and enhance the lives of the people entrusted to their care.”
Loretta Hooker had resided at the Sunrise at Sterling Canyon assisted living facility since July 2007, because her mild dementia and general physical fragility made living alone too difficult. In April 2010, due to the worsening of her dementia, the facility transferred her to a section of the facility with higher security. This section housed residents with more advanced cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dementia Patient Was Left Unsupervised On Numerous Occasions
According to the complaint, Hooker enjoyed sitting outside, but required supervision due to her advanced dementia. Corn alleged that when he visited on August 17, 2011, he found his mother outside, alone and unsupervised, on a patio that contained no shade. Corn brought his mother inside and complained to facility staff.
Corn alleged that he scheduled a meeting with the facility’s director the next week to discuss the problem. When Corn returned to the facility to attend the August 24 meeting, he again found his mother sitting on the sun-drenched patio outside, alone and unsupervised, but this time, the temperature outside was in excess of 100 degrees and Hooker was covered in perspiration, unresponsive and in respiratory distress, Corn claimed in his suit. Medical personnel transported Hooker to a local hospital, but she died of heatstroke. Her temperature at the time of her death was 103.3 degrees, the lawsuit claimed. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office stated that Hooker died because “she had a bad heart and was left outside in the heat,” the Times article reported.
Assisted Care Facility Cited for Failing to Supervise Patient
Both the California Department of Social Services and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated the incident. Social Services cited the facility for failing supervise hooker or check on her within 10 minutes. The Sheriff’s Department investigation concluded that neglect had likely occurred, but that insufficient evidence existed to charge anyone involved with a criminal violation, the Times reported.
Contact a Wrongful Death Lawyer in San Franciso, CA
Unfortunately, stories like Corn’s, and his mother’s, are too common. Our California wrongful death attorneys are well-versed in the rights and remedies available to family members who have lost a loved one due to the neglect of others and stand ready to help those families obtain everything to which the law says they are entitled. While no amount of money, or rebuking by a court can bring back a loved taken too soon, our California wrongful death attorneys understand that nursing homes and assisted living facilities do have a moral, and legal, obligation to do so, and must be held to account for their failures when they do not live up to these obligations.
Click now to request a free no-obligation consult with a wrongful death attorney, or call 415-541-0300.
Boone Callaway is a personal injury & medical malpractice lawyer in San Francisco who has been working with clients in the Bay Area for over 25 years. Mr. Callaway is one of only a few personal injury litigators in San Francisco who is a Super Lawyer, AV Rated and is also a member of ABOTA – American Board of Trial Advocates.
