Families object to settlement amounts in class action lawsuit against disgraced nursing home owner

Story by Shay O'Connor

On Thursday, a Jefferson Parish judge announced that families involved in a class action suit against disgraced nursing home owner Bob Dean would receive final payments soon.

This, as some plaintiffs appeared in court and pleaded for more money.

Hundreds sued Dean for transporting their older family members to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida.

About a dozen people died at the site.

Mitchell Harris is the son of Debra Whiltberger.

"We didn't get justice through Bob Dean. He's living in a nice, beautiful mansion. We are here with nothing," Harris said.

Harris said his mom was 60 years old when she died just weeks after enduring horrid conditions at a warehouse in Independence in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

"She was bedridden. She had had several strokes. Couldn't walk or eat by herself. Had no water, during that time, no nothing. Just laid there. I don't know how she did it," Harris said.

Harris said his family was allocated $10,000 in an initial settlement, and he has to pay attorney fees out of that amount.

It's why he went before the judge to object.

"I'd rather take a loss and fight it than someone offer me an insult on what they think my mom's life was worth," Harris said.

He is not alone. Jeanette Triplette said her mom is still dealing with the latest effects from the terrible experience.

"You can't put a price on someone's life. You can't put a price on someone's quality of life," Triplette said.

More than 400 patients or their living family members are to split under $9 million in Bob Dean's insurance proceedings. Each of the families who participated in the class action lawsuit received allocation letters based on how much officials believed they are owed.

People received different amounts.

These requests come as attorneys said they feel the process has been smooth, given the circumstances.

"Watching from the outside, it seems like it's been longer. But inside the legal system, it has moved very quickly," said attorney Rob Couhig Jr.

Attorneys said most should have received at least two payments. The biggest lump sum is expected to go out to families. Another payment could follow based on what is left after that.

WDSU spoke with at least one family who said they received their allocation letter, but so far, no payments.

"None whatsoever. They sent like $1,000 and $1,700 out. We never got none of that," said Rachael Ayo, daughter of Ella May Alario.

Dean was sentenced to three years' probation last July and ordered to pay $2 million in restitution. There is expected to be another hearing to address the plaintiff's request.

The judge also said if he agrees to the objection it will slow the process for those families who objected. But he will look into the matter.

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Families object to settlement amounts in class action lawsuit against disgraced nursing home owner

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Bob Dean

Settlement offers nearly $9M to Louisiana nursing home residents kept in warehouse during hurricane

Associated Press

Some of the elderly residents of seven Louisiana nursing homes who were sent in 2021 to ride out Hurricane Ida in a crowded, ill-equipped warehouse are being offered shares of a nearly $9 million settlement after they sued.

Retired state judge William “Rusty” Knight told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans that all the 427 former residents who filed legal claims are being sent letters outlining the proposed settlement. Knight said amounts differ based on patients’ individual circumstances.

People who don’t contest the amount offered can expect to receive money within a few weeks. A hearing for those who want to fight the settlement will be held in January.

“It’s been a longer road getting here than we wanted it to be,” Knight said. “Nobody’s getting what they should. quite frankly, because there’s not enough money.”

Bob Dean Jr., 70, owned seven nursing homes in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana. As Ida approached, Dean moved hundreds of residents into a building in the town of Independence, roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans.

Authorities said conditions at the warehouse deteriorated rapidly after the powerful storm hit on Aug. 29, 2021. They found ill and elderly bedridden people on mattresses on the wet floor, some crying for help, some lying in their own waste. Civil suits against Dean’s corporation said the ceiling leaked and toilets overflowed at the sweltering warehouse, and there was too little food and water.

Within days after the storm hit, the state reported the deaths of seven of the evacuees, five of them classified as storm-related.

By the time Dean was arrested on state charges in June 2022, he had lost state licenses and federal funding for his nursing homes. Dean pleaded no contest to 15 criminal counts in July and was sentenced to three years of probation, paying $258,000 in restitution and more than $1 million as a penalty.

Last month, Dean agreed to pay $8.2 million to the federal government to settle allegations that he misused assets and income from four nursing homes whose loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Prosecutors say he funneled nursing home money to his personal bank accounts, using the money to buy antiques, guns and cars.

But Dean also faced civil lawsuits or legal claims from 427 of the 843 patients who were taken to Independence, or their surviving relatives. Many of the plaintiffs and their lawyers have suggested Dean was hiding other assets.

Knight said he knows of 165 of Dean’s former residents who have died since the evacuation, and he said he expects to learn more people have died as responses to the settlement offer are returned.

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Settlement offers nearly $9M to Louisiana nursing home residents kept in warehouse during hurricane

Nursing home owner who left 800 people in warehouse during Hurricane Ida avoids jail time

Bob Dean Jr gets probation after pleading no contest to counts of cruelty to infirmed people and healthcare fraud

By: Ramon Antonio Vargas

A Louisiana nursing home magnate who left 800 elderly residents to endure a potent hurricane inside a fetid warehouse has avoided prison time after choosing not to dispute the cruelty charges facing him.

Bob Dean Jr on Monday received three years of probation – along with about $2m in penalties, court costs and restitution – after pleading no contest to eight counts of cruelty to infirmed people, five of healthcare fraud and two of obstruction of justice.

An undated image provided by the Tangipahoa parish sheriff’s office of Bob Dean Jr. Photograph: AP

Dean entered his plea at a state courthouse in Amite City, Louisiana, about three years after several deaths during Hurricane Ida in 2021 were linked to the storage facility at the center of the case against him.

Louisiana’s state attorney general, Liz Murrill, said prosecutors had unsuccessfully asked Judge Brian Abels to sentence Dean to least five years imprisoned and not “only probation”. Abels technically handed Dean a 20-year prison sentence but deferred it in its entirety in favor of probation.

“Our prosecutors urged that Mr Dean be held accountable for his actions, which led to the deaths of numerous elderly individuals,” Murrill said in a statement. “I respect our judicial system and that the judge has the ultimate discretion over the appropriate sentence, but I remain of the opinion that Dean should be serving prison time.”

Abels said the 70-year-old Dean’s age, lack of prior criminal convictions and the amount he had to repay all factored into his sentence, according to a report from the CBS affiliate WWL Louisiana.

The outlet added that family members of people who died at the warehouse addressed Abels through tears Monday, saying they never got a chance to say goodbye to loved ones who were left to die at the facility.

Dean sent 843 residents of seven Louisiana nursing homes to a squalid, former pesticide plant in the town of Independence, about 70 miles (110km) north-west of New Orleans, to ride out Ida as the category 4 storm took aim at the region.

With winds of about 150 miles (241km) an hour, Ida caused widespread power outages and other devastation across south-east Louisiana in August 2021. Residents of Dean’s nursing homes were later found sleeping on mattresses atop a wet floor – without access to their medicines, sobbing and lying in their own feces.

Warehouse conditions devolved after the failure of generators meant to provide electricity to the facility. Indoor temperatures soared to dangerous levels, prompting warnings from caretakers that Dean ignored.

The ceiling leaked, toilets overflowed and there was not enough food or water for residents who were packed in so closely it was impossible to comply with social distancing guidelines in effect at the time because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials ultimately linked five of the 26 deaths that occurred in Louisiana because of Ida to the warehouse in question. Ensuing investigations determined Dean had billed the federal Medicaid program for dates his residents were not receiving care, refused to move clients out of the warehouse and “engaged in conduct intended to intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement”.

Dean later lost his licenses and federal funding to operate his nursing homes. And in June 2022, prosecutors filed the criminal charges to which he later pleaded no contest.

Though Abels said Dean had no history of criminal convictions, the case resolved on Monday was far from Dean’s only recent legal issue.

Notably, he also grappled with several lawsuits from families of those left in the Independence warehouse.

About three months after authorities charged him, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced a $12m settlement with Dean. A February 2023 report from the Louisiana news outlet nola.com reported that the families had not gotten any settlement payments, which average about $10,000 per nursing home at the warehouse after accounting for attorneys’ fees and other costs.

Elsewhere, Georgia authorities charged Dean with criminal conduct after he shot his thumb off there – and Oregon officials scrutinized him after cattle from his ranch in that state needed to be rescued from a snowstorm, nola.com also reported.

Dean’s attorney, J Garrison Jordan, told nola.com that his client’s plea and sentence Monday were “a fair disposition of the case, and everybody has closure”.

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Nursing home owner who left 800 people in warehouse during Hurricane Ida avoids jail time

Plaintiffs win class action lawsuit against Bob Dean over Hurricane Ida nursing home evacuations

In advance of the Hurricane Ida, 843 nursing home residents from Orleans, Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes were packed into a warehouse in Independence.

NEW ORLEANS — After hearing dueling legal arguments from high-powered local plaintiffs’ attorneys, a Jefferson Parish judge ruled Monday in favor of a class-action settlement against nursing home owner Bob Dean stemming from his ill-fated evacuation of 843 of his patients during Hurricane Ida.

Judge Michael Mentz approved the settlement that would divvy up Dean’s insurance coverage – about $15 million – with 22.5 percent of that covering legal fees for Couhig Partners, LLC, the law firm that pushed for the quick resolution.

Early estimates peg the amount going to individual plaintiffs at less than $10,000 each, although the amounts will be higher or lower depending on hardships suffered by each patient.

Several patients died and others had to be hospitalized after they were rescued by state officials from Dean’s warehouse in Tangipahoa. WWL-TV was the first to report on the unsanitary conditions at the shelter, including lack of food, water and bathroom facilities.

The settlement agreement was far from unanimous, with other attorneys led by well-known accident attorney Morris Bart objecting, saying the agreement lets Dean personally off the hook. However, Couhig Partners, LLC, which negotiated the settlement said time is of the essence for the aging plaintiffs.

Don Massey, of the Couhig firm, applauded the judge’s ruling to go forward with the settlement.

“We’re pleased that the judge took into account the important facts of our clients’ age and how much they suffered already and the need to give folks some closure,” Massey said after the hearing. “We’re pleased that the judge recognized the obvious, that Mr. Dean no longer has any assets, he’s under criminal prosecution, he’s under a guardianship.”

But other attorneys with lawsuits believe that Dean has not fully disclosed all of his assets, which had included everything from an antique car collection to several houses across the country.

Well-known New Orleans accident attorney Morris Bart, who represents more than 100 plaintiffs, was among those who unsuccessfully argued to spend more time investigating Dean’s assets.

“This class-action settlement is very unfair,” Bart said outside of the courthouse. “We have fought for our clients and despite the judge’s ruling today, we are going to continue to fight for our clients to get them the compensation they deserve for this horrible travesty that they have been through.”

Bart said his firm will appeal Mentz’s ruling.

“We will 100 percent appeal this,” he said. “This judgment allows Bob Dean to walk away without paying one dollar for his actions. Not one dollar for what he did. We think that’s unfair. We presented evidence that Bob Dean is worth $15 to $20 million dollars and right now today continues to live as a king in his estate in Georgia.”

Mentz acknowledged the different positions taken by the attorneys, but said that after hearings last week, he was not convinced that Dean’s assets exceeded the amount of his debts.

“Every day that the settlement is delayed, the amount of debt against Mr. Dean continues to grow,” Mentz said in his ruling from the bench. “And every day, more plaintiffs die.”

In the end, Mentz said he was faced with a “lose, lose, lose situation” in which Dean has lost his nursing home empire while his patients and their families suffered greatly during the storm and, as a result of Dean’s crumbling fortunes, “they lost the ability to be fully compensated.”

Dean, who lives in Georgia, still faces felony criminal charges in Louisiana, including cruelty to the infirm and Medicaid fraud.

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Plaintiffs win class action lawsuit against Bob Dean over Hurricane Ida nursing home evacuations

Jefferson Parish judge will give ruling Monday on Bob Dean nursing home settlement

by Cassie Schirm

JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — A Jefferson Parish judge rule on a proposed class-action settlement over nursing home owner Bob Dean Jr.'s deadly evacuation of 843 Louisiana residents during Hurricane Ida will happen Monday.

Dean is accused of evacuating seven nursing homes to a warehouse in Independence.

Conditions in the warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish quickly deteriorated, with one lawsuit claiming things were "horrific."

At least four people died, and the state quickly shut down the site and transferred residents.

Records show Dean wasn't there and ignored staff begging for help.

Since then, Dean has been, according to his attorneys, diagnosed with dementia at age 69 and under guardianship. His wife, Karen Dean, has been named his guardian.

Back in September, the class action council and the plaintiff attorneys met to discuss an all-or-nothing class action settlement that would be paid through insurance and give each resident roughly $17,000. That is not including attorney fees and costs.

Some lawyers requested additional time to determine if Dean has more money or assets to put toward a settlement.

In this week's hearings, Dean's attorneys argued that Dean is now at least $40 million in debt and now owes over $73 million in lawsuit judgments and that there was no way he would ever get out of the red.

Attorneys went on to say that he had no more money to give after having everything taken away from him.

Even though he was subpoenaed, Dean did not show up to court this week.

Matthew Hemmer, an attorney for the Morris Bart law firm, pushed back pointing out that Dean has not filed for bankruptcy, and they have not seen his full financials. Saying there could be more assets in the dozens of properties possibly connected.

Hemmer said if there is more money, the families have a right to fight for it.

"That's really what we're trying to get at," Hemmer said. "We want them to have the choice to be able to say this is a fair deal or no we want to chase them for more, that's what it comes down to. Should the victims have a choice."

Attorney Rob Couhig, co-class counsel, said the time is now as it's costing the families more by dragging it out mentally and financially saying the debt for Dean grows by $12,500 a day.

“We can’t bring back those five days, but we can make it a little bit better for the families and those who have survived,” Couhig said. “These people are dying. They’re old."

Since the evacuation over a year ago, attorneys believe more than 100 residents have passed away.

District Judge Michael Mentz said he would give a ruling by Monday on whether to approve the all-or-nothing class action settlement.

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Jefferson Parish judge will give ruling Monday on Bob Dean nursing home settlement

Nursing home owner Bob Dean loses legal control as judge weighs Ida evacuation settlement

BY JOHN SIMERMAN

A Jefferson Parish judge is scheduled to consider a proposed class-action settlement Wednesday over nursing home owner Bob Dean Jr.’s botched evacuation of 843 south Louisiana patients for Hurricane Ida.

Dean likely won’t appear to testify, though he's received a subpoena. That's because a probate judge in Georgia last month granted a petition to appoint Dean's wife, Karen Dean, as his emergency guardian, records show.

Those records cite medical evaluations that “support a determination (Dean) is diagnosed with dementia, short-term memory issues, and bipolar disorder,” the court order states. 

In Georgia, judges may name a guardian or conservator if they find an adult “lacks sufficient capacity to make or communicate significant responsible decisions concerning the management of his or her property.”

The Sept. 26 order grants Karen Dean authority over her husband's medical treatment, contracts and legal matters. It says Bob Dean, 69, is at least $40 million in debt. There is no end date to the guardianship, a court official said.

How the Georgia order might affect the hearing this week before 24th Judicial District Judge Michael Mentz is uncertain.

Dean's lawyers have long argued that Dean suffers from dementia, and he's managed to avoid giving sworn statements over the evacuation of seven south Louisiana nursing homes to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse. 

His attorneys are also fighting Dean's subpoena, citing the guardianship order from Georgia. Forcing Dean to appear in a Jefferson Parish courtroom would be "oppressive, harassing, embarrassing, and unduly burdensome" for the former nursing home magnate, they argued in a request for a protective order.

"Dean's health and finances are in a state of collapse," they said.

Attorneys for some of Dean's former patients have cast doubt on that dire picture, suspecting an attempt to skirt accountability for the squalor he allegedly left his patients to wallow in at the warehouse in Independence.

Dean's attorneys claim he was "never the same" after he underwent dental surgery in April 2021, months before he launched an evacuation of his nursing homes as Hurricane Ida approached. 

More than a dozen residents died in the evacuation’s aftermath, though coroners have classified only five of those deaths as "storm-related.” Records show Dean, who wasn't there, ignored staff pleas for help and browbeat state health inspectors who were trying to intervene.

Dean’s seven nursing homes were seized by lenders after state health officials pulled his operating licenses shortly after the evacuation. He quickly got behind on paying off a mountain of debt on the vacant homes. His attorneys cite $40 million in judgments related to those and other debts.

Dean also faces criminal charges related to the ill-fated evacuation. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office booked him in June on eight counts of cruelty to the infirm, five counts of Medicaid fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Advocates pushing for the settlement, led by attorney Rob Couhig, argue that time is wasting for elderly former patients who are rapidly dying off.

They say they’ve found little in the way of available assets to supplement insurance proceeds pegged at $13 million to $15 million. More than 100 of Dean’s former patients have died since the storm, attorneys estimate.

But lawyers for many of Dean’s former patients have balked at the proposed all-or-nothing settlement, calling it premature and claiming it lets Dean off the hook.

Morris Bart, whose firm represents scores of Dean’s former patients or their families, is opposing the proposed settlement, claiming it ignores possible assets Dean may be hiding.

Bart cites about $10.4 million that he argues could be available from additional insurance proceeds and frozen bank funds that Dean is trying to reclaim.

Staff writer Andrea Gallo contributed to this story.

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Nursing home owner Bob Dean loses legal control as judge weighs Ida evacuation settlement

Class action lawsuit filed on behalf of families of nursing home residents placed in warehouse

NEW ORLEANS —

A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of families whose loved ones were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish and left in deplorable conditions.

The lawsuit was filed Monday against Bob Dean, the owner of seven facilities at the center of an investigation.

The lawsuit was filed in Jefferson Parish by Nancy Anderson, on behalf of her mother-in-law, Mrs. Leona Anderson; Joy Manguno, on behalf of her husband, Joseph T. Manguno; Jayme Songy, as curator for Malvina Songy; and Janice Verdin, as a responsible party for Catherine Roussell, according to the lawsuit.

The seven nursing homes evacuated more than 800 residents to Waterbury Cos. warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish ahead of Hurricane Ida, and had their licenses revoked, the Louisiana Department of Health announced Tuesday. The facilities' Medicaid provider agreements have also been terminated, the agency said.

The seven nursing homes are:

• River Palms Nursing and Rehab, Orleans Parish
• South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab, Lafourche Parish
• Maison Orleans Healthcare Center, Orleans Parish
• Park Place Healthcare Nursing Home, Jefferson Parish
• West Jefferson Health Care Center, Jefferson Parish
• Maison De Ville Nursing Home, Terrebonne Parish
• Maison Deville Nursing Home of Harvey, Jefferson Parish

The announcement comes after seven nursing homes residents taken to the Waterbury Cos. warehouse died. State health officials were turned away when they went to inspect the facility the day after the storm, having received reports that conditions inside had worsened.

The lawsuit alleges that Dean denied the defendants their dignity, accusing him of abuse.

The lawsuit seeks damages and a jury trial.

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Class action lawsuit filed on behalf of families of nursing home residents placed in warehouse

Nursing home owner under investigation after 800 elderly residents are found packed inside a leaky warehouse during Ida — 4 tragically died

by Phil Shiver

Image Source: YouTube screenshot

State and local authorities in Louisiana are investigating after four nursing home residents have died and more than 800 others were found languishing inside of a mass shelter while riding out Hurricane Ida.

What are the details?

WWL-TV reported Thursday that residents from seven different area nursing homes had been transported to a large warehouse in Independence recently in preparation for the severe storm. The warehouse, however, was not suitable enough to provide care for the patients.

One nursing home worker who spoke with the outlet on the condition of anonymity said that inside the shelter, residents were forced to lie down on mattresses on the floor and were not given privacy from each other.

 

 

He said that while there was enough food and water for all the residents, there simply weren't enough staff to provide care. The worker admitted he wasn't "surprised" that four people died.

"The conditions weren't good enough," he said. "I knew they weren't going to be safe for the residents and for the workers. We did the best we could with what we had."

At one point, water started pouring into the warehouse and the facility started flooding. Residents had to be moved from that area to another part of the warehouse, making the packed conditions even tighter.

"It was intense," the worker said. "We didn't have privacy to take care of them. We were changing everybody right by everybody and with the COVID there just wasn't enough space. It was awful."

 

What else?

After being tipped off about the poor living conditions at the shelter, Louisiana Department of Health investigators reportedly attempted to investigate but initially were turned away by staff at the door.

The department, along with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), has since taken control of the situation and moved all 843 of the residents to other nursing homes or special needs shelters, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said Thursday.

The governor vowed an investigation into the owner of the seven nursing homes from which residents were evacuated. That individual is also the owner of the warehouse where they were moved.

"At a minimum, when the situation degrades to the point that happened fairly quickly starting on Monday, then the owner, the homes, have an obligation to either move those residents themselves to a better facility or to ask for help," Edwards said. "He did neither."

"In fact, what he did was try to prevent the Department of Health from coming in and ascertaining the condition of those residents earlier in the week," he continued.

Anything else?

 

Relatives of the residents told media outlets this week that they were blindsided after learning about the warehouse conditions. 

 

WWL reported that they "never got a call or any kind of message from the nursing homes, but instead had to find out on the news."

 

"If we'd known, I would've come and got her for sure," said one woman whose mother was in the warehouse.

 

"They could've made any kind of phone call," added another relative during an interview with CBS News.

WWL reported that three of the deceased residents were as a 59-year-old woman from Jefferson parish, a 52-year-old man from New Orleans and a 77-year-old man from Terrebonne Parish, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

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Nursing home owner under investigation after 800 elderly residents are found packed inside a leaky warehouse during Ida — 4 tragically died