A Michigan woman is suing a nursing home for willfully neglecting her developmentally disabled aunt. The niece alleges the facility staff was ill-prepared to care for the 71-year-old and allowed her to “starve to death.”
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Albert Dib on behalf of Charlene Jones, Bertha Jones’ niece and guardian, against the Hoeft House in Belleville, Michigan.
Also named in the filing are eight of Hoeft House’s former employees accused of neglecting the woman, causing her to die on May 2, 2022. The niece is hoping to receive $25 million in damages.
The complaint, filed on Tuesday, March 14, states the senior citizen died as a result of complications related to circulatory failure, severe dehydration and protein-calorie malnutrition, among other conditions, The Washington Post reports.
Dib says Hoeft Homes and Community Spirit Homes and Community Living Services (the organization that operates the facility) broke the “sacred trust” of caregiving.
The lawyer says he has handled several cases against group homes. He noted Hoeft Homes was not registered with the state, a certification not required because the residents all had their names listed on the building’s lease in 2010.
According to Click on Detroit, when the group appeared as a tenant-landlord set-up and dropped its license, the move protected them from regulation and oversight lawsuits.
“I’ve handled many group home cases. They almost always are a) understaffed and b) underqualified,” Dib said, before talking about the very specific needs Bertha Jones required.
Since her birth in 1951, Bertha JOnes has needed special care every hour of the day, her family says. According to the lawsuit, the woman was born with a spinal deformity, was born blind and deaf, and unable to communicate for herself. She was also confined to a wheelchair and possessed intellectual disabilities.
“She was easy to neglect. The way I see it, she couldn’t…
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