Keeping an Eye on Your Loved Ones

We recently posted an article on our website about a nursing home employee who was caught on camera going through an elderly resident's purse. He was eventually charged with burglary. The woman was a resident at Symphony, an assisted living facility in Olmsted Falls. Her maintenance man was caught on camera rifling through her purse. He has been charged with several felonies. Family members were very angry that the facility did not fire the maintenance man despite the video evidence. Apparently, he was initially disciplined, but not fired. Eventaully he was fired.

Tragically, many employees at many nursing homes cannot be trusted. We see cases where employees steal from the residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We tragically see cases where employees assault residents. We have handled cases involving violent physical assaults. We have handled cases involving sexual assaults of nursing home residents and assisted living residents.

We are very proud of the passage of Esther's Law. This is a law in Ohio that gives families the right to put a camera in their loved one's room in a nursing home. We represented Esther Piskor. Her son hid a camera in her room. The camera recorded all the time. There was no way for the son to watch all 168 hours of footage every week. However, he would fast forward through the footage. He was just trying to find out who was leaving his mom's window open. His mom liked her room very, very warm. When she would go to therapy, the staff would open up the window to cool the room off and sometimes would leave the window open. So he was trying to find out who was leaving his mom's window open. Tragically, he discovered that multiple members of the staff were physically assaulting her. Two of the employees of the nursing home went to prison.

We were very proud to represent her in her civil case against the owners and the operators of the nursing home. After the conclusion of that case Esther's Law was passed, giving families an absolute right to conceal a camera in their loved one's room in a nursing home.

In this day and age, there is wonderful technology available. The footage in the article about the Symphony assisted living facility was from a Ring doorbell camera. There are many systems that you can set up to keep an eye on your loved ones. Thanks to Esther's Law, you have an absolute right to do so. In the case of Esther Piskor, her son wrote a note on the wipe-off board in her room telling the staff that there was a hidden camera. Despite that, they continued to physically abuse her. The fact that her son had written a note on the wipe-off board alerting the staff to the fact that there was a camera in the room and that didn't stop the physical abuse really reveals the culture at some of these nursing homes. Tragically, the staff at some of these nursing homes absolutely believe that they are entitled to physically abuse the residents.

Oftentimes, when we handle a case against a nursing home or an assisted living facility, we request all the police reports for a period of time for that facility. We often find multiple incidents where staff is stealing. We often get reports where staff is stealing from each other. We get reports of staff stealing from the residents. We also get reports of physical violence at the nursing home or the assisted living facility.

One of the things that's really pervasive is staff stealing narcotics. If the staff is charged with giving pain medication to a resident who is nonverbal, who cannot speak and advocate for himself or herself, sometimes the staff records the medication as having been given and then pockets the medication to take themselves later or to sell. This leaves the resident without the pain medication that they need. Sometimes it also leads to having impaired staff at the nursing home charged with taking care of the resident.

We handled a case years ago where a man choked to death in the dining room of the nursing home. We later found out that one of the aides who was responsible for his care was a heroin addict who was impaired at the time that she was supposed to be taking care of the residents at the nursing home.

If you are suspicious that your loved one is not receiving appropriate care, is the victim of any kind of violence, or is subject to having their things stolen, we strongly recommend that you move your loved one to a better nursing home. You should not have to worry about your loved one being assaulted. You should not have to worry about the staff stealing from your loved one. You should absolutely be able to trust the people who are supposed to be providing good care to your loved one.

If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.