One Year Ago Today (January 31, 2022)…The husband of a patient at a Glendale nursing home who sued the facility on behalf of his wife, alleging the disabled woman was sexually assaulted by another resident in 2017, reached a settlement with the business.
The husband was identified only as M.C. and his spouse as T.C. in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed in January 2019 against Griffith Park Healthcare Center, alleging the nursing home “failed to maintain plaintiff in a safe and healthy manner and failed to protect her from health and safety hazards.”
The case was later transferred to Glendale Superior Court and the plaintiff’s attorneys filed a notice of settlement on Jan. 7, then a request for dismissal on Friday. No terms were divulged.
The suit sought unspecified damages on allegations of sexual battery, assault, negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit alleges the nursing home management did not properly train employees to prevent sexual assault and to notice possible danger signs.
“As a result of these many failings, defendants … neglected plaintiff and allowed a sexual predator to walk freely through the hallways and to rape (her) while she was left unsupervised and unprotected,” the suit stated.
According to the suit, T.C. was sexually abused by another resident at the facility on June 4, 2017.
“This sexual abuse consisted of rape and inappropriate touching … among other acts of misconduct,” according to the complaint.
The nursing home administration was aware of “prior misconduct by facility residents,” but that information was concealed from the couple when the wife was admitted, the suit alleged.
In their court papers, lawyers for the facility maintained that any alleged sexual contact between T.C. and “unidentified third parties” was consensual and that the nursing home provided good care and treatment to the woman during her residency.
The victim of the alleged assault, now 51, suffers from paralysis caused by a stroke and has difficulty communicating, according to the lawsuit, which stated she also needs help eating, bathing and using the restroom.