Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld: Elderly Residents File Ground-Breaking Class Action Lawsuit Against NYSE-Traded Brookdale Senior Living Over Financial Abuse and Widespread Violations of the ADA

SAN FRANCISCO, July 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Four senior citizens living in California assisted living facilities run by Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., who have significant care needs and disabilities, have filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco accusing Brookdale of financial abuse and widespread violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA").
Brookdale is the largest provider of assisted living for senior citizens and persons with disabilities in the U.S. and its stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange. There are more than 5,000 residents in Brookdale's 89 assisted living facilities in California. This is believed to be the first class action lawsuit against an assisted living provider to be brought under the ADA.

Plaintiffs and their families came to Brookdale because they required assistance with their activities of daily living including medication management, dressing, bathing, toileting, hygiene, food preparation, laundry and transportation. Rather than finding the care and comfort they needed, plaintiffs, their family members, and the proposed class they seek to represent have all encountered in Brookdale a system of understaffed assisted living facilities that fails to consistently provide even the most basic level of promised care.

According to the complaint: "Brookdale systemically understaffs its facilities, cuts caregiver hours, and fails to train workers, all to boost its profitability, while the residents in Brookdale's care are forced to endure increasingly expensive monthly charges and worsening care. The results of Brookdale's callous and profit-driven approach are devastating: as multiple reports by state regulators confirm, residents are left without assistance for hours after falling, they are given the wrong medications, they are denied clean clothing, showers, and nutritious food, and they are left in their own waste for long periods of time."

Brookdale promises families peace of mind, but instead they find heartache when they learn that their loved ones are not receiving medications they need or even the most basic housekeeping and hygiene—despite monthly fees ranging from $4,000 to $5,000 or more for each resident.

As alleged more fully in a 70-plus page complaint filed today in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Brookdale has engaged in a policy and practice of violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), accompanying regulations, and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Brookdale discriminates against seniors with disabilities in myriad ways, including by failing to address multiple barriers in their living quarters and throughout the facilities, restricting the number of persons in wheelchairs who can take weekly outings, and failing to provide sufficient staff to care for persons with cognitive and other disabilities. The complaint also alleges that Brookdale has engaged in a policy and practice of violating the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, committing Elder Financial Abuse, and engaging in Unlawful, Unfair and Fraudulent Business Practices.

The case is Eidler v. Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case #3:17-cv-03962. Anyone with information about conditions at Brookdale facilities in California may contact Gay Grunfeld at ggrunfeld@rbgg.com or 415-433-6830.

Plaintiffs' Co-Counsel and Media Contacts:

Gay Crosthwait Grunfeld
Rosen Bien
Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
(415) 433-6830

Guy B. Wallace
Schneider Wallace
Cottrell Konecky
Wotkyns LLP
(415) 421-7100

Kathryn A. Stebner
Stebner and Associates
(415) 362-9800

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Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld: Elderly Residents File Ground-Breaking Class Action Lawsuit Against NYSE-Traded Brookdale Senior Living Over Financial Abuse and Widespread Violations of the ADA