A major U.S. nursing home operator that was sued for understaffing its California facilities has caught a major break in a class action lawsuit settlement that threatened to bankrupt the company. Skilled Healthcare, LLC has reached a preliminary settlement of $62.8 million — a mere fraction of the initial $677 million jury verdict handed down in July. Class members will receive a letter this month detailing the new class action settlement and granting them the option to opt out of the class.
Skilled Healthcare is the 10th largest nursing home company in the nation and operates 79 homes in seven states. The Skilled Healthcare class action lawsuit accuses the nursing home operator of repeatedly failing to meet state and federal staffing requirements at 22 of its California facilities. California State law requires nursing homes to maintain 3.2 hours of nursing care per patient per day.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of approximately 32,000 current and former patients/residents and family members who paid for their care. The suit includes two classes:
The Facility Resident Class: Anyone who resided in a Skilled Healthcare nursing homes from September 1, 2003 through April 1, 2009.
The Family Member Class: Anyone related to a Facility Resident Class member by blood, marriage or other legal relationship and who made payments to a Skilled Healthcare facility for services rendered to any Facility Resident Class member from September1, 2003 through April 1, 2009.
Letters will be mailed to class members this month with a breakdown of the settlement agreement. After they receive the letter, class members will have 30 days to opt out and 20 days to file an objection to the settlement, which is still subject to judge approval. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the 22 facilities named in the class action lawsuit must either meet or exceed state staffing requirements. A third-party monitor will be assigned by the court to go over monthly staffing reports and census data provided by the facilities to make sure each nursing home is following the law.
More information about the Skilled Healthcare Class Action Lawsuit Settlement can be found at www.skilled-healthcare-classaction.com.
Updated September 9th, 2010
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