Woman fights court system for right to make own decisions

WSMV News 4

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Reba Sherrill may be in a wheelchair, but she's ready for a fight.

"I'm not going to let them just get away with this," she said.

Sherrill is fighting for the right to make her own decisions – something her daughters don't take for granted anymore.

“My mom's not a criminal, and yet they're treating her like a criminal," said Brenna Outlaw, Sherrill’s daughter.

The struggle began when Sherrill went to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in August. She was having complications from a car accident that happened in December 2016.

"When I went on Tuesday night, they kept me. And that was the beginning of the nightmare,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill went to Vanderbilt for a physical problem, but Vanderbilt's lawyers filed papers in Davidson County Probate Court saying Sherrill had a "borderline personality disorder.” Vanderbilt asked a judge to appoint someone to take control of her affairs. They said no family members were willing to do it.

Judge Randy Kennedy approved Vanderbilt's request the same day without consulting Sherrill or her family.

"Aug. 23, they went to court and asked the judge to appoint someone to make my decisions. They didn't tell me this hearing was taking place. It happened, and the next day, I was notified that it had taken place," Sherrill said.

"And it didn't matter. It didn't matter that they didn't notify family. That they had family willing to step in," said her daughter, Emily Outlaw.

The judge appointed a Nashville attorney, Cathryn Armistead, to serve as what's called a fiduciary. That gave Armistead power over where Sherrill would live; what doctors she would see – and it gave Armistead control over Sherrill’s financial affairs.

"They took all the money out of my bank account. Didn't even warn me. They didn't even tell me they were going to do it. They redirected all my personal mail to the attorney who was serving as the fiduciary," Sherrill said.

Sherrill was trying to rebuild her house in Hendersonville. It had been damaged in a fire. She couldn’t go forward because she couldn't pay the contractors.

Armistead moved Sherrill to a nursing home. Her family said she was given mind-altering anti-psychotic drugs even though her own family doctor wrote a letter saying those medications could cause a life-threatening adverse reaction.

"It didn't matter that she had a neurologist who said she's allergic to it, shouldn't take it, they were just shooting her up with it anyway," Emily Outlaw said.

Vanderbilt's attorney Anthony Bills filed papers with the court saying doctors determined that Sherrill was paranoid and delusional.

Sherrill said she believes it was because she told them she was highly sensitive to pesticides and herbicides.

"They said that because I eat only organic food that I was paranoid and psychotic," she said.

Sherrill’s daughter Brenna Outlaw found the idea laughable.

“I eat organic food; there’s a lot of people who eat organic food. There are millions of people who only eat organic food,” she said.

Vanderbilt’s attorney filed more papers, asking the court to give Armistead broader powers. They asked that Armistead be named Sherrill’s conservator permanently.

That would give Armistead the right to make end-of-life decisions, control all her medical care, decide where she lives, and sell her property.

"Basically when you go through this situation it's like you've already died. They take everything. They liquidate," Sherrill said.

A hearing was set for Oct. 11. Two days before that hearing, Judge Kennedy signed an order giving Armistead control over the settlement that Sherrill received after the December car accident.

The settlement totals more than $1 million – money that would then become available to pay all the fees that are racked up in conservatorship cases.

Hourly fees are charged by the lawyer the judge appointed to represent Sherrill. Armistead, an attorney, is also allowed to bill by the hour for work done on Sherrill’s behalf.

It's up to the judge to approve the bills; the family has no say.

"I'm kind of scared of how much they're going to end up charging her," Emily Outlaw said.

On Oct. 11, News 4 attended the hearing as the family fought the proposed conservatorship. Lawyers spent hours in negotiations behind closed doors.

In the end, both sides agreed that Sherrill's brother could be her conservator. Armistead is out of the picture.

"I like that if somebody is going to be over me, it's him," said Sherrill, referring to her brother.

There's something that Sherrill's family has never understood. Why did Vanderbilt's lawyers keep fighting to establish a conservatorship, even long after Sherrill had been discharged as their patient?

The News 4 I-Team’s Nancy Amons asked Vanderbilt’s attorney Anthony Bills as court finished for the day. He declined to answer questions.

"Again, Miss Amons, I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to speak outside the courtroom about this case. Thank you." Bills said.

Sherrill and her family are at a loss to understand Vanderbilt’s continuing interest in their former patient.

"My attorney asked them that question, and they never really gave us an answer,” Sherrill said.
A Vanderbilt spokesperson emailed the I-Team a statement:

“The 2 million-plus patients we treat each year represent a variety of life experiences and social circumstances. We support the use of conservatorships for some patients to ensure there is an appropriate legal process in place for decisions associated with patient care,” said John Howser, chief communications officer with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vanderbilt did not comment on why they pursued the conservatorship for some six weeks after Sherrill was no longer an inpatient.

The Sherrill family wants the laws changed. They want more protection for people like themselves – protection from a system they feel is un-American.

"This could happened to anybody," Brenna Outlaw said.

"They claim these are put into place to help the individual, to protect them, but all I see is it's abuse," Sherrill said.

Armistead did not return phone calls and emails sent to her office.

This isn't the first conservatorship case the I-Team’s Nancy Amons has investigated in Judge Kennedy's court.

Songwriter Danny Tate fought to get out from under a conservatorship under Judge Kennedy. His home was auctioned, and was purchased by the attorney to whom he owed legal bills.

Amons also profiled the stories of two other women, Jewell Tinnon and Ginger Franklin. Both of them lost their homes and all their possessions after the court put them in conservatorships. They have since died.

Full Article & Source:
Woman fights court system for right to make own decisions

Hendersonville woman who lost home, car in conservatorship case dies at 58

A Hendersonville woman who lost her home, car and all her belongings in a highly contested conservatorship case has died.

Ginger Franklin, 58, died Monday. Her controversial conservatorship case was one of a handful that sparked a reform effort leading to a 2012 change in Tennessee law.

Franklin also successfully sued the owner of a group home where she was placed against her will and put to work cleaning and cooking for other residents even as her bank account was being tapped for a monthly fee.

Franklin's case came to the attention of a national organization established to halt abuse by guardians and conservators.

"The system didn't just let Ginger down; it used Ginger and exploited her for its own benefit — at her expense and to her detriment, all under the deception of protection and on Judge David 'Randy' Kennedy's watch," said Elaine Renoire, head of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse, referring to the Davidson County probate judge who presided over Franklin's case.

Franklin ended up in a conservatorship without her knowledge in 2008 after she fell in her condo and suffered a brain injury. She was shipped to a rehab facility in another state, and when she returned to Tennessee she was told by her court-appointed conservator that her condo was empty and being sold.

She was placed in a group home and put to work.

A judge would later rule that Franklin was the victim of "egregious and intentional abuse."

Salim Homes was ordered to pay Franklin $23,050.

Franklin's conservator was Jeanan Stuart, then the public guardian for Davidson County. Stuart was eventually forced to resign from her job after a series of articles in The Tennessean raised questions about her billing practices.

In Franklin's case, records showed that Stuart seized and then abandoned a car Franklin owned. It was subsequently seized by the garage owners and auctioned off.

Franklin made several attempts to have the conservatorship lifted but was rebuffed by Stuart and Kennedy.

She wasn't finally released from the conservatorship until 2010.

Franklin also filed suit against Stuart, charging that the attorney had violated her fiduciary duty by failing to act on her request to have the conservatorship dissolved and for mishandling her assets, including her car.

A circuit court judge denied motions by Stuart to have the case dismissed. The suit was eventually dismissed voluntarily.

Full Article & Source:
Hendersonville woman who lost home, car in conservatorship case dies at 58

See Also:
Ginger

Ginger Franklin's Car Towed and Sold While in Conservator, Jeanan Mills Stuart's 'Care'

Ginger Franklin, Tennessee Victim

Tennessee Public Guardian, Jeanan Mills Stuart's Fees Exceed $1.8 Million

TN:  Conservator Jeanan Mills Stuart and Judge Randy Kennedy

Jeanan Stuart Response to Questions

Guardianship in the U.S.: Protection or Exploitation?

(Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series on guardianship abuses appearing this week on Next Avenue.)

Ginger Franklin - Credit: Tennessee Bar Association

Ginger Franklin was just shy of her 50th birthday when she fell down the stairs of her Nashville-area townhouse in 2008. A marketing representative for Sam’s Club, she was taken to the hospital with a severe brain injury. Doctors weren’t sure if she would survive.

Since Franklin had not designated anyone to make decisions for her if she became incapacitated, and with no immediate family, her aunt was advised to petition the court for a guardian. The guardian, a lawyer appointed by the county, placed her in a group home for seriously mentally ill adults.

But Franklin was not mentally ill. And she did what no one expected her to do: she recovered.

When she returned home from a rehabilitation center seven weeks later, however, the guardian “told me that I didn’t have a home anymore and that my townhouse was empty,” Franklin said.

Some of these cases are the ugliest family cases you can imagine.... somebody who did not get access to Mom and Dad’s money [against] someone who did.

— Brenda Uekert, National Center for State Courts

As is common in guardianship cases, the court granted permission for the guardian to sell Franklin’s home and its contents. The owners of the group home where she was placed then put Franklin to work: She was forced to do the grocery shopping, cook, dispense medication, watch over the other residents of the house and clean the owners’ personal home — for no pay, Franklin said. Meanwhile, she was paying $850 monthly rent to the owners, plus $200-per-hour attorney fees to the guardian for such tasks as writing checks for Franklin’s expenses and leaving phone messages, according to a court document.

With the help of an advocate, and media attention, Franklin fought the guardianship in court, winning her freedom in 2010 after two long years of having no legal rights. She now lives independently in the Nashville area and has sued the guardian.

“It’s quite an understatement to say I was devastated,” she told Next Avenue. “I don’t trust people anymore. I lost everything — because I fell down the stairs.”

More Will Enter ‘The Danger Age’

Franklin’s case, originally investigated by The Tennessean newspaper, is just one of many cases of guardianship and conservatorship abuse across the country.

In a 2010 report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found hundreds of allegations of physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation by guardians in 45 states and the District of Columbia between 1990 and 2010. Guardians also stole $5.4 million in assets from their wards in that period, the GAO said. (The GAO is currently working on an updated report.)

As the boomer population moves into old age, the numbers of people affected by guardianship and conservatorship will rise “tremendously,” said Jennifer Wright, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis who directs the school’s Elder Law Practice Group.

“There are more of us who are going to enter the danger age,” she said.

With as little as a single document — and in some cases, not even a court hearing — older adults can see their most basic rights stripped away. They cannot vote, get married or get divorced. A family member or a stranger appointed by the court will decide where they will live, how their money will be spent, what health care they will get or not get, when they will go out, when and where they may travel and whom they are allowed to see.

Guardianships: Difficult to Challenge

Rarely is an “incapacitated person” or ward able to get a guardianship or conservatorship terminated — until death, that is. Franklin was, in that sense, very lucky.

“Go ahead and see what you can do, because you have been deemed incapacitated, so everything you say or do is meaningless,” said Brenda Uekert, principal court research consultant with the National Center for State Courts. “You can’t even get an attorney, because a judge has already determined that you don’t have the ability to make decisions for yourself.”

Those who do try to fight often end up paying exorbitant amounts of money.

“Many families go bankrupt because they believe if they hang in there long enough the system will work for them, and it doesn’t,” said Elaine Renoire, a director of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse in Loocootee, Ind., a victims’ rights group. The No. 1 complaint she hears: guardians who try to isolate older adults from their loved ones.

In her 2014 book, The Con Game: A Failure of Trust, business professor T.S. Laham of Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area wrote that America’s guardianship system is “an open invitation to potential abuse.” (Next Avenue wrote about the book last year.)  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Guardianship in the U.S.: Protection or Exploitation?

Suit Against Former Public Guardian Ends

Ginger Franklin

by Walter F. Roche, Jr.

Shortly after yet another favorable ruling in her long legal battle, Ginger Franklin has voluntarily dismissed her suit against Jeanan Stuart, the former public guardian for Davidson County. In a one-page filing this week, Franklin's attorney, Michael G. Hoskins, gave notice that the suit was being dismissed "with prejudice."

When asked whether there was a settlement in the case, Hoskins replied, "No comment." "This dismissal operates as an adjudication of this lawsuit upon the merits," the filing states.

Franklin did not respond to an email seeking her comment.

The attorney for Metro Nashville, which had also been named as a defendant in the case, said the parties already had agreed to dismiss claims against the government prior to the overall dismissal.

"I do not know whether there was a settlement," Jeff Campbell wrote in an email response to questions.

"I can say that Metro did not settle this case and is not contributing to one."

He did say that lawyers for the other parties, Stuart and Franklin, recently "indicated the suit would be dismissed soon."

"As is their right, they declined to tell me whether there was a settlement or its terms," Campbell concluded.

Jeanan Mills Stuart

Emails to Stuart's lawyer, William B. Hubbard, drew no response.

The dismissal follows closely a ruling favorable to Franklin by Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden, who turned back attempts by Stuart's attorney to have Metro government found liable, since Stuart had been appointed to her post by a vote of Metro Council.

The dismissal ends a legal battle that dates back to 2008 when Franklin was placed in a conservatorship without her knowledge after suffering a serious fall.

She has charged that she lost her home and all her belongings while Stuart had complete legal control of her finances and health care.

In the suit that has now ended, Franklin had charged that Stuart violated her fiduciary duties when, among other things, she allowed Franklin's car to be towed and auctioned off after it was abandoned in a parking garage.

Franklin also filed a separate suit in Sumner County against the group home where Stuart had placed her. That suit ended with a favorable ruling for Franklin.

Stuart stepped down from her post in 2013 on the same day that Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy announced he would no longer appoint her to any cases because of questions raised about her billing practices.

Source:
Suit Against Former Public Guardian Ends

See Also:
Former Davidson County TN Public Guardian Must Stand Trial

Former Davidson County (TN) Public Guardian Must Stand Trial

by Walter F. Roche, Jr.

A clearly frustrated Davidson circuit court judge has ruled that former Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart must stand trial on charges in a civil suit that she engaged in willful misconduct in her role as the court appointed conservator for a Hendersonville woman.

"This is going on and on and on," Gayden said in a recent hearing. "Let's get this case going."


Ginger Franklin

The ruling came in a longstanding suit filed by Ginger Franklin who was placed in a conservatorship in 2010 without her knowledge following a fall.

Franklin has charged that after her appointment Stuart engaged in "willful and malicious conduct" in her case by failing to act on her request to have the conservatorship ended.

During the same Dec. 12 hearing Gayden also ruled that Metro government could not be held liable for Stuart's actions. Stuart's lawyers had argued that Stuart was a Metro employee and thus was protected from claims under provisions of the Governmental Tort Liability Act. "

She was acting within the scope of her duties as an employee," said William Hubbard, Stuart's lawyer, according to a transcript of the session. But Michael Hoskins, Franklin's attorney, disagreed.

"It's clear that the legislature never intended to give some special immunity to the public guardian," he said, adding that previously Stuart had claimed immunity as a state employee.

Gayden later agreed with Hoskin's  that even if the liability act did apply, the charges of willful and intentional misconduct would not be protected.

Hoskins and Metro attorney Jeff Campbell also noted that Stuart made her claim against Metro long after the statute of limitations had passed.

Gayden also granted Stuart's lawyer's motion to file an appeal of his rulings in the case.

Stuart stepped down as public guardian last year on the same day Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy stated that he would no longer appoint her to any cases because of questionable billing practices. Her job has remained vacant ever since.

Source:
Judge Rules Former Public Guardian Must Stand Trial

2014 Year-End Reflection #3: NASGA Member Ginger Franklin's Suit Against Her Former Conservator, Jeanan Mills Stuart

Jeanan Mills Stuart

This lawsuit brings great hope of breaking down the immunity barrier which has insulated and protected many unscrupulous guardians from suit in the past.

See:
Celebrate!  Judge Rules Public Guardian, Jeanan Mills Stuart, IS NOT Immune From Lawsuit

Former Public Guardian, Metro in Court Face-Off

Judge Denies Motion to Block Suit Against Former Public Guardian

By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A circuit court judge has turned down a motion filed by Davidson's former public guardian in a suit filed by a Hendersonville woman who has charged she was wrongly placed in a conservatorship.

In a two-page order, Judge Hamilton V. Gayden denied the motion filed by attorneys for former Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart.

Stuart's lawyers had argued that Ginger Franklin's claims should be decided under a law limiting the claims that can be filed against public agencies because Stuart was acting as an agent of Davidson County.

But Gayden concluded that he could not grant the motion because Metro government was not even a party to the suit.

He wrote that he would reconsider the matter if Metro becomes a party to the suit within the next 30 days.

Gayden also noted that Franklin's suit charges that Stuart's conduct was "knowing and willful" which,  if true, would negate the limitations.

Ginger and her best friend 

Franklin's suit charges that Stuart failed in her fiduciary duties to look out for her best interests during the conservatorship, which was ultimately dissolved.

Stuart was removed from the public guardian's job by Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy after questions were raised about her billing practices. She submitted a resignation the same day.

The position remains unfilled, but a proposal by Mayor Karl Dean would created a new Public Guardian's office funded by Metro government.

Gayden's ruling comes on claims by Franklin that she was placed in a group home by Stuart and put to work caring for other residents.

In an earlier ruling Gayden dismissed other claims Franklin made relating to the loss of her condo and car due to actions or inactions by Stuart during the conservatorship. The condo was auctioned off and the car was abandoned.

Source:
Judge Denies Motion to Block Suit Against Former Guardian

Woman wins award against group home in conservatorship case

A woman who was placed in a conservatorship without her knowledge has won a $23,050 award from a Sumner County court against a group home that put her to work caring for other residents while she was paying an $850 a month fee.

In a four-page ruling Circuit Court Judge C.L. Rogers ruled that Ginger Franklin of Hendersonville, who was recovering from head injuries, was the victim of “egregious and intentional abuse” while she was confined at a Nashville facility run by Salim Homes.

In the ruling, Rogers concluded that Franklin suffered “mental anguish of grief and worry” when she was forced to provide care for other disabled adults and perform cleaning duties for the owners of the group home.

Franklin was placed in a conservatorship on Aug. 25, 2008, after she fell at her Nashville condominium and suffered a brain injury. She was placed in a conservatorship by Davidson Probate Judge David “Randy” Kennedy and then county Public Guardian Jeanan Stuart was named as her conservator.

Stuart, who has since been removed from the post, placed Franklin at Salim Homes at 509 Phipps Drive in Nashville after she was released from an Illinois rehabilitation facility. Franklin eventually was released from the conservatorship in December of 2010.

In the ruling issued earlier this week, Rogers concluded that Franklin and other disabled residents of Salim Homes “were used to clean business properties and provide care for disabled adults” and also to clean the personal residences of the group home’s owners.

“Plaintiff had no success in contacting her conservator,” Rogers wrote, adding that Franklin “had reasonable fear and worry she could be put out for not cooperating, saying ‘No’ or objecting, she would have no place to go.”

Rogers wrote that it was the duty of Salim Homes “to provide care for these disabled adults. It was not to work a mentally dysfunctional, disabled adult and use them as free labor.”

As the ruling noted, Franklin was being charged $850 a month while at the group home.

Full Article and Source:
Woman wins award against group home in conservatorship case

Public Hearing on Conservatorship Draws 70 in Nashville, TN

A public hearing to gather information about how current conservatorship law is working or could be improved drew about 70 people to the Tennessee Bar Center today (Sept. 20), including more than a dozen who spoke of problems they or their family members have had with conservatorships.

 The hearing was the first of four scheduled across Tennessee to provide an opportunity for lawyers, community leaders and citizens to discuss what works with the present conservatorship law and how practice and procedure could be improved. You can see video from today's hearing or additional hearings held across the state.

Source:
Conservatorship Hearing Draws 70 in Nashville