Mississippi nursing home first wins whistleblower case, and now attorney fees in sharp rebuke

by Jessica R. Towhey

A lawyer who acknowledged to the court that he did not check a public database to determine the status of a nursing director’s license must pay attorneys’ fees after losing a whistleblower case, a federal judge has ruled.

Mississippi attorney Cameron Jehl originally filed a whistleblower lawsuit against GGNSC Southaven LLC — also known as Golden Living Center — in April 2019, seeking more than $30 million in damages. The allegations centered on the alleged lack of a multistate nursing license by the facility’s former director of nursing, Lionelle Trofort, who worked at the facility from April 23, 2013, to March 4, 2014, according to court documents. Jehl alleged that Golden Living, a 140-bed nursing home in Southaven, MS, near the Tennessee border, filed approximately 1,393 Medicare and Medicaid claims during that period that were fraudulently submitted. 

Under the False Claim Act, the civil penalty for each alleged violation is between $5,000 and $10,000.

Court documents show that Trofort worked as a travel nurse beginning in 2010 in Arizona, Arkansas and Mississippi while holding a multistate nursing license issued by Virginia, which court records indicate she considered her place of residence. Virginia, though, revoked Trofort’s license on Feb. 28, 2013, but reinstated it on March 20, 2013, after submitting a declaration to the state’s nursing board declaring Virginia as her permanent residence. 

Documents from the case adjudicated in the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi show that she began working at Golden Living on April 23, 2013, and the facility confirmed on April 24, 2013, that she held a valid, multi-state nursing license.

Jehl, while pursuing an unrelated wrongful death case, discovered notice of the revocation of Trofort’s license. However, US District Judge Neal B. Biggers Jr., wrote in his ruling awarding fees to Golden Living, that Jehl filed his whistleblower suit against Golden Living without checking whether Trofort’s license had been reinstated.

“This court finds that because the relator’s allegation was ‘bereft of any objective factual support,’ the action ‘clearly had no chance of success,’ and therefore the claim is frivolous under the [False Claim’s Act] fee-shifting provision,” Biggers wrote in his March 28 ruling.

Biggers’ original ruling in favor of Golden Living was issued in March 2022. Jehl appealed that ruling to the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld that decision in December 2022. The fight then moved back to the Mississippi court over attorneys’ fees.

Neither Golden Living nor Jehl responded to requests for comment on Friday by McKnights Long-Term Care News. 

Court documents do not show what amount of attorneys’ fees Jehl will be responsible for paying to Golden Living.

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Mississippi nursing home first wins whistleblower case, and now attorney fees in sharp rebuke

Britney Spears' Mom Lynne Requests $650,000 in Attorney Fees as Singer Slams Her on Instagram

By Tomás Mier

As Britney Spears' conservatorship inches closer to an end, her mother Lynne is requesting more than $650,000 in attorney-related fees.

In a petition for payments filed on Monday, Lynne, 66, requested that her attorneys be paid for by Britney's estate for their involvement in her conservatorship case. The request comes as Britney, 39, slammed her mother Tuesday evening in a since-deleted post.

"Pssss my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago … but what people don't know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea !!!!" Britney wrote on Instagram. "I will never get those years back."

She added, "She secretly ruined my life."

Calling out both her mother and her former manager Lou Taylor in the post, she wrote, "So take your whole 'I have NO IDEA what's going on' attitude and go f— yourself !!!! You know exactly what you did."

Lynne and Taylor did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

In the court filing for fees Monday, Lynne's attorneys claimed that the popstar's mother reached out to them to "help Britney free herself from what she saw as a very controlling existence." They also state that they engaged in "researching and vetting appropriate qualified expert doctors" for Britney in May 2019 and later said they advocated for Jamie's removal from the conservatorship.

"Lynne discussed joining the conservatorship as an interested party extensively with Britney and Britney enthusiastically agreed, and indeed asked her mother to join in the case in any capacity that would help to end her nightmare and the crisis she was enduring," the document read.

As for the breakdown of fees, Lynne's attorneys at Jones Swanson stated that their fees amounted to $840,000, but were "willing to apply a 40% discount" and ask for $504,000. The other fees would correspond to attorneys at Ginzburg & Bronshteyn, which requested $146,548 in fees.

The attorney fees are set to be discussed during a Dec. 8 court hearing, following the Nov. 12 hearing where Judge Brenda Penny will decide whether or not to terminate Britney's conservatorship.

In court documents submitted by Jamie's attorney Alex Weingarten Monday, the father of the pop star requested that her conservatorship be "immediately terminated."

"Britney's recent testimony and requests to take personal control of her estate and affairs have made clear that continuing the Conservatorship is contrary to her desires," the document read. Therefore, "Jamie sees no reason why the Conservatorship should continue for any amount of time and asserts he has no interest in the Conservatorship continuing."

Weingarten adds that Jamie's request is "unconditional" and he "does not make this request subject to a demand for releases or compensation."

"Jamie unconditionally loves and supports his daughter. Full stop. As he has done for her entire life, Jamie will do everything he can to protect and care for her," Weingarten writes. "For the last 13 years, that included serving as her Conservator. Now, it means ending her Conservatorship."

However, Jamie's filing comes after Britney's attorney Mathew Rosengart claimed that Jamie had ulterior motives for unexpectedly wanting an end to the conservatorship, questioning whether the popstar's father was "motivated by a desire to bolster his reputation or to avoid his deposition or responding to the outstanding discovery served on him in August."

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Britney Spears' Mom Lynne Requests $650,000 in Attorney Fees as Singer Slams Her on Instagram