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Mealey's Elder Law

  • January 17, 2025

    Partial Dismissal Recommended In $300M Ponzi Fraud Case Involving Bank, Insurers

    MIAMI — A Florida federal magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation advising granting in part and denying in part motions to dismiss filed by Wells Fargo in a receivership case and a related putative class action alleging that Wells Fargo aided and abetted fraud in a “massive” Ponzi scheme purportedly orchestrated by owners of insurers, some of which are now in receivership, resulting in elderly investor victims losing more than $300 million after scheme operators sold them promissory notes secured by collateral in stranger-oriented life insurance policies (STOLIs).

  • January 14, 2025

    U.S. High Court Hears Arguments On Age Bias Case Status After Voluntary Dismissal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Jan. 14 on whether voluntary dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 are “final” and may be reopened under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).

  • January 13, 2025

    10th Circuit: Worker Collective Failed To Show Age Bias With Policy Changes, RIF

    DENVER — Workers laid off from an aerostructure manufacturer as part of a reduction in force (RIF) failed to show that the company’s policy changes and statements and the manner in which the RIF was carried out constituted age discrimination, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for the employer on the employee’s collective action claims.

  • January 09, 2025

    Hospice Provider Can’t Dodge Wiretapping, Privacy Lawsuit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A customer of an end-of-life care provider sufficiently alleges that the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) software to record clients’ telephone conversations without their consent violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), a California federal judge found Jan. 8, denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss.

  • January 09, 2025

    Vice Chancellor Addresses Privilege Claims In DUFTA Case Discovery Dispute

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor ordered plaintiffs to produce some documents they had argued were privileged and to pay for additional depositions in a putative class suit over an alleged scheme to strip capital from an insurance subsidiary on which many policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits.

  • January 03, 2025

    7th Circuit Dismisses Insurer’s Appeal As Moot In Wrongful Death Coverage Suit

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 2 dismissed as moot an insurer’s appeal in a dispute over coverage for an underlying wrongful death and negligence lawsuit arising from the death of an elderly assisted-living facility resident, finding that the dispute over the lower court’s stay order evaporated with the dismissal of the underlying action.

  • January 03, 2025

    11th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Remanded Assisted Living COVID Wrongful Death Case

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied an assisted living facility’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc of a split panel decision affirming a judgment of a Florida federal court remanding to state court a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the personal representatives of a woman who died from COVID-19 while under the care of the facility.

  • January 02, 2025

    Amicus, Company To High Court: Dismissal Pending Arbitration Was Not End Of Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An employee’s voluntary dismissal of an age bias suit pending arbitration is not a “final” proceeding, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America argues in amicus brief supporting an energy company’s position that a trial court lacked jurisdiction over the employee’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) motion.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge Orders Class Notified In $18.2M Settlement Of Senior Home Understaffing Suit

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge ordered that notification be issued to more than 4,100 class members comprising family members of former and current residents of care facilities after the court granted final approval of an $18.2 million settlement with the facilities’ operator, including $10.5 million in attorney fees, for claims that residents were harmed by understaffing in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and elder financial abuse law.

  • December 11, 2024

    Granite Installer Awarded Reduced Attorney Fees After Age Bias Verdict

    PITTSBURGH — A granite installer awarded nearly $80,000 for compensatory damages and front and back pay on age bias claims by a federal jury was awarded more than twice that in attorney fees and costs by a federal judge in Pennsylvania.

  • November 22, 2024

    New York Care Homes Sued By Attorney General Settle Medicare Fraud Suit For $45M

    NEW YORK — New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that multiple nursing homes and their owners and operators sued in the New York County Supreme Court have agreed to pay $45 million to settle a suit against them alleging understaffing and resident neglect, as well as fraud and misuse of Medicare and Medicaid funds.

  • November 20, 2024

    Split Panel Rules No Federal Question In Assisted Living COVID Death, Remand Proper

    ATLANTA — A split panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment of a Florida federal court remanding to state court a lawsuit brought by the personal representatives of a woman who died from COVID-19 in an assisted living facility alleging that the facility failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, finding that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act was not a complete preemption statute, nor was any other federal question invoked that would confer jurisdiction on the federal court.

  • November 15, 2024

    Jury Awards $2M In Negligence, Civil Rights Suit Against Decedent’s Care Home

    ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York federal court jury awarded $2 million to a plaintiff who sued her father’s nursing home and related parties for negligence and civil rights violations related to their alleged neglect that resulted in his death after the daughter purportedly found her father at the nursing home on the floor “gasping for breath” with staff not responding to her requests for help.

  • November 11, 2024

    Judge Tosses Breach Of Contract Suit Against MetLife Over $100,000 Lapsed Policy

    FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge dismissed a breach of contract suit filed against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife) by a decedent’s son seeking death benefits under his father’s $100,000 life insurance policy which ended when his father retired, finding that the son’s breach of contract claim fails because agency granted to him by his father pursuant to a power of attorney (POA) ended upon his father’s death and therefore precluded the son from extending post-retirement coverage on his father’s behalf.

  • November 07, 2024

    9th Circuit Finds ‘Substantial Compliance’ With QDRO Specificity Requirement

    SAN FRANCISCO — Affirming summary judgment in an interpleader suit over a life insurance policy worth $493,000, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in an unpublished memorandum disposition that the lower court correctly held that a legal separation agreement (LSA) was a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 05, 2024

    Federal Judge Grants Skilled Nursing Facility’s Motion To Dismiss FNHRA Suit

    HAMMOND, Ind. — A federal judge in Indiana granted a skilled nursing facility’s motion to dismiss without prejudice a decedent’s relative’s lawsuit alleging that it violated the duties imposed upon it under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (FNHRA), allowing the plaintiff leave to amend her complaint within 14 days.

  • November 05, 2024

    Federal Jury Finds Granite Installer Fired For Age; Judgment Entered For Worker

    PITTSBURGH — The same day a jury awarded a granite installer compensatory damages and front and back pay on age bias claims and found that the bias was willful, a federal judge in Pennsylvania entered judgment for the worker in the amount of $79,148.50.

  • November 01, 2024

    Split Kentucky High Court Affirms Ruling Upholding Care Home Death Suit Dismissal

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — A split Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed an appellate court ruling upholding a lower court’s dismissal of a wrongful death suit against a nursing home for filing outside the statute of limitations, finding that because a probate proceeding constitutes a special statutory proceeding, the state law making an executor’s appointment effective the date it is signed by a judge “prevails” over a state rule of civil procedure making the effective date when the court clerk filed the order.

  • November 01, 2024

    Calif. Jury: Age Of Pool Company Employee Was Not ‘Substantial’ Reason For Firing

    SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A California jury returned a verdict for a pool and spa company, finding that the age of a fired worker, 62, was not “a substantial motivating reason” for his termination.

  • October 30, 2024

    Georgia Panel Vacates Judgment, Remands Probate Case For New Trial

    ATLANTA — Finding that a probate court improperly instructed the jury on spoliation of evidence, prejudicing the decedent’s sister in a dispute over the validity of a will, a Georgia appellate court vacated the judgment in favor of the decedent’s children and remanded the matter for a new trial.

  • October 28, 2024

    New York Panel Reverses Dismissal Order In Care Home Bid For Medicaid Coverage

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York state appellate court reversed a lower court order dismissing a nursing home’s suit seeking a declaration that a former resident was entitled to chronic care nursing home Medicaid coverage, finding that the defendant, a commissioner of a county department of social services, erred in his “contention that the allegations in the complaint” did not suffice “to state a cause of action.”

  • October 25, 2024

    Kentucky Panel Affirms Denial Of Care Home’s Motion To Compel Arbitration

    FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s denial of a nursing home’s motion to compel arbitration of a negligence claim asserted by the estate of a deceased resident, finding that the resident’s son lacked the authority under a durable power of attorney (DPOA) issued to him to enter into an arbitration agreement on his father’s behalf.

  • October 25, 2024

    Panel: Daughter Did Not Have Authority To Bind Her Mother To Arbitration Agreement

    SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Court of Appeals held that because a plaintiff did not hold a power of attorney or any other legal authority that permitted her to bind her mother to an arbitration agreement with a care facility in a dispute over negligence and wrongful death claims, a lower court erred in finding that she had authority to agree to arbitration but correctly denied the care facility’s motion to compel arbitration.

  • October 22, 2024

    Split Illinois High Court Affirms Judgment In Row Over Care Homes’ COVID Immunity

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A split Illinois Supreme Court affirmed an appellate court’s decision answering in the affirmative a question certified to it from a lower court after modifying it to ask whether a specific executive order issued by the Illinois governor grants “immunity for ordinary negligence claims to healthcare facilities that rendered assistance to the State during the COVID-19 pandemic,” finding that “the appellate court appropriately reframed the certified question to clarify that immunity applies only to ordinary negligence claims.”

  • October 18, 2024

    Nevada High Court: No PREP Act Immunity For Failure To Set COVID Safety Protocol

    CARSON CITY, Nev. — A panel of the Nevada Supreme Court has denied a petition filed by a skilled nursing facility for a writ of mandamus directing a state court judge to dismiss the complaint of the survivor of a rehabilitation patient who died of COVID-19 contracted while in the facility, holding that neither the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act nor a state COVID-19 emergency directive granted immunity for the facility’s failure to establish an effective COVID-19 safety protocol.