Defense Arbitration Award

Press Release 3

K. Scott Jones

RBDBD delivers for the defense in a chapter 400 nursing home case alleging elopement and wrongful death of a 36-year-old AIDS resident. Plaintiff also alleged the resident suffered numerous falls at the facility.

The Arbitration Hearing, before a three member panel, lasted 3 days. Scott Jones (SJones@rd-legal.com) of the Orlando office of Romaguera, Baker, Dawson, Bringardner & Dias P.A represented the defendant. Michael Carter, from the firm of Morgan & Morgan, represented the Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff's witnesses testified to understaffing, lack of supervision, and failure to intervene to prevent falls. There was testimony that the resident fell ten times in less than four months. Plaintiff introduced testimony that the facility should have used a personal alarm system on this alert and oriented resident. The panel rejected these arguments and found the facility did not violate the resident's rights.

In addition, Plaintiff argued that the facility failed to supervise the resident on the day he left the facility, causing the resident to suffer a massive seizure in extreme heat and die. The plaintiff's lawyers hammered at the theme that this was a "troubled facility in a troubled organization" and demanded $600,000 in compensatory damages. Expert medical testimony by the defense showed the resident was terminally ill with AIDS and had less than six months to live at the time of his death. The panel returned an award of only $100,000, an amount less than the defense costs of the case.

This is the second arbitration "win" for Scott Jones in the last six months.