Son sues nursing home after mother subjected to male dancer

A nursing home’s responsibility to provide appropriate care to residents goes beyond administering medications and protecting the residents from injuries. Nursing home abuse can take many forms, including verbal and psychological abuse.

Readers in South Carolina may have seen disturbing headlines about a woman’s experience at a nursing home in New York. According to reports, a male dancer was hired to perform in front of elderly residents, and now the family of an 86-year-old woman who suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is suing the facility.

The dancing incident occurred either in late 2012 or early 2013. Shortly after that, as the woman’s son was organizing her belongings, he came across a photograph of a barely dressed man dancing above the elderly woman. In the photo, the wheelchair-bound woman, who has suffered three strokes, is seen placing a dollar bill in the man’s underpants.

The son first tried to sue the facility in 2013, but the case was dismissed later that year, as a judge found that the son didn’t have legal standing to sue on behalf of his mother. However, according to a second lawsuit, the son has since been given power of attorney in one of the mother’s moments of lucidity.

The lawsuit states that the nursing home violated the woman’s dignity and caused her mental anguish. Additionally, the nursing home is accused of using patients’ money without their consent to pay for the dancer. The suit claims that the vulnerable woman was then brought to the dancing event and intimidated into placing money in the man’s underpants.

The causes of nursing home negligence and abuse are multiple and various. If you believe that a vulnerable loved one has been hurt in such a way, then you may want to look into your legal options for conducting a thorough investigation.

Source: Los Angeles Times, “Stripper at New York nursing home leads resident’s son to sue,” Paresh Dave, April 8, 2014