Seniors at seven Louisiana nursing homes sent to crowded, ill-equipped warehouses to ride out Hurricane Ida in 2021 will receive a share of a nearly $9 million settlement after filing a lawsuit. It is presented.
Former state judge William “Rusty” Knight told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that letters outlining the proposed settlement have been sent to all 427 former residents who filed legal claims. Mr Knight said the amount would vary depending on the patient's individual circumstances.
Those who do not object to the amount offered can expect to receive their money within a few weeks. A public hearing for those seeking a settlement is scheduled to be held in January.
“It's been a longer journey than we would have liked to get here,” Knight said. “Nobody is getting what they deserve because, frankly, there’s not enough money.”
Bob Dean Jr., 70, owned seven nursing homes in New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana. As Ida approached, Dean moved several hundred residents into buildings in the town of Independence, about 110 miles northwest of New Orleans.
Authorities said the situation at the warehouse rapidly deteriorated after a powerful storm occurred on August 29, 2021.
They found sick and elderly people bedridden on mattresses on wet floors, some screaming for help and others lying in their own garbage. Dean's civil suit against his company said the sweltering warehouse had leaking ceilings, overflowing toilets and a lack of food and water.
Within days of the storm's arrival, the state reported seven deaths among evacuees, five of which were classified as caused by the storm.
By the time Dean was arrested on state charges in June 2022, he had lost his state license and federal funding for his nursing home.
Dean pleaded no contest to 15 criminal charges in July, was sentenced to three years' probation, and paid $258,000 in restitution and more than $1 million in fines.
AP
Mr. Dean last month agreed to pay the federal government $8.2 million to resolve allegations that he misappropriated assets and income from four nursing homes whose loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
Prosecutors say he funneled nursing home funds into personal bank accounts and used the money to buy antiques, guns and cars.
But Dean also faced civil lawsuits or legal claims from 427 of the 843 patients brought to Independence or their families. Many of the plaintiffs and their attorneys have suggested that Dean was hiding other assets.
“There is no real justice for what my client has endured,” attorney Matthew Hemmer, who represents hundreds of nursing home victims, told WVUE-TV.
Knight said he knows of 165 former Dean residents who have died since the evictions, and said he will learn more as responses to the settlement are returned.
