07 | 12 | 2010
Case Study
Luce Forward announced today that on July 6, 2010, Chris Healey and a team of Luce Forward attorneys - together with co-lead counsel, Michael Thamer and W. Timothy Needham of the law firm of Janssen, Malloy, Needham, Morrison, Reinholtsen, Crowley & Greigo LLP - obtained a $677 million verdict against Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. and 22 nursing facilities it operates in California.
The verdict is one of the nation’s largest of the year, one of the largest of the past decade, and the largest ever against a nursing home chain.
The Humboldt County jury found, after a six-month trial, that Skilled Healthcare, one of the country’s largest nursing home businesses, consistently failed to comply with California’s minimum nurse staffing requirements, misled its residents and the public about its actual staffing levels, and, in so doing, acted with oppression, fraud, and/or malice. As a result, the jury awarded the plaintiffs with nearly $619 million in statutory damages, plus $58 million in restitution. The next phase of the trial will consider the amount of punitive damages that Skilled must pay to the residents.
“We are thrilled with the result,” said Healey. “It sends a clear message to nursing homes throughout California: the state’s minimum staffing requirements cannot be ignored.”
Luce Forward was asked to participate in the case primarily due to the firm’s recognized expertise in class action litigation, including defending institutional clients in non-nursing matters. Healey said, “The experts told us that minimum staffing is inextricably tied to decent care for these vulnerable residents. It seemed clear to me that a class case was the only viable way to obtain compliance with the law.”
The Luce Forward team included Aaron Winn, Charles Bird, Stewart Gardner, Christopher Rowlett, Ben West, and James Danaher. The plaintiff class was also represented by Michael Thamer and by W. Timothy Needham, Michael Crowley, Amelia Burroughs, and Patrick Griego of Janssen, Malloy, Needham, Morrison, Reinholtsen, Crowley & Greigo LLP.