Enlivant Assisted Living Lawsuit – Important Information
Considering filing a lawsuit against an Enlivant assisted living facility? Speak with Senior Justice Law Firm first. Our attorneys narrowly focus on cases against senior living chains, like Enlivant. We can help your family on your journey to justice. Live chat or call us today for a completely free Enlivant lawsuit case consultation: 888-375-9998.
You’ve suspected that a loved one has been mistreated, injured, or neglected in an Enlivant facility. Maybe they’ve fallen and broken their hip. Maybe they were assaulted by another resident, or wandered out of the facility. After making sure your family member is safe and receiving medical treatment, what comes next? For many, speaking to the facility is the logical next step. However, conversations with facility management may get you nowhere. When a memory care or ALF goes into damage control, oftentimes, the family will not receive the full story as to what happened with their loved one.
Unfortunately, in cases of elder abuse and neglect, legal action is often required to get answers as to what happened. The attorneys at Senior Justice Law Firm have more than 50 years of combined experience in elder abuse and neglect, and we are here to help. We understand that this is a challenging time, and we want to make pursuing legal action against Enlivant, or any other long-term care provider, as simple and stress-free as possible.
If you believe that someone you love has suffered injury or wrongful death in an Enlivant memory care facility, reach out to our law firm today. Our consultations are always free, and we work exclusively on contingency fee, so we only get paid a percentage of what we recover for your family. Call us today or fill out our online case consultation form to get started in seeking justice for your loved one’s injuries.
What You Need to Know About Enlivant Assisted Living and Nursing Homes
Enlivant is a newer name for a long-time assisted living facility provider formerly known as Assisted Living Concepts, LLC. Accusations were made that Enlivant’s corporate predecessor prioritized its profits ahead of resident safety.
In the late 1990’s ALC underwent an audit and had its accounting methods questioned. There were further allegations of sub-standard assisted living care. “Critics began to accuse public assisted living companies, such as [Assisted Living Concepts, LLC], of being more interested in meeting Wall Street’s high growth-and-earnings expectations than in serving clientele. They said that facilities were accepting seniors who should really have been in nursing homes where they would have received better care,” as per ReferenceForBusiness.com.
In 2014, the company rebranded to Enlivant following media attention regarding the number of ALC assisted living facilities that received citations and deficiencies from state investigators. The comprehensive rebranding effort from Assisted Living Concepts to Enlivant was completed “amid allegations of subpar care and state regulatory issues.”
Enlivant now operates over 230 senior living communities, representing 11,000 resident rooms. Many of Enlivant’s newer communities focus on memory care, which is assisted living with a focus on cognitively impaired residents. Most of these Enlivant facilities cater to residents with dementia. Memory care is the fastest-growing sector of the senior housing market, with the number of units doubling over the past decade. It is also one of the most lucrative niches in the long term care industry. Enlivant operates across 27 states, maintaining hundreds of locations and almost 7,000 staff members.
How Do I Know if Enlivant Operates the Assisted Living Facility Where my Family Member Was Hurt?
If someone you love has been abused or neglected at a facility, you may not even know that it is owned by Enlivant because the company often operates under a different naming scheme. In fact, the Enlivant name is primarily a branding effort, and very few of its facilities are titled as such. Instead, Enlivant facilities are registered using the naming scheme “Place”—which means that if your family member lives in a nursing home ending in “Place,” that location may be owned by Enlivant. A legal professional can help you determine who the operator is.
Examples of Enlivant facility names include Wayman Place, Urbana Place, Leighton Place, Park Creek Place, and Wyncote Place.
How Do I Know if I Have a Lawsuit Against Enlivant for Neglect?
Elder abuse and assisted living negligence are not accidents, and Enlivant facilities have a legal responsibility to safeguard residents. If you have noted any of the following injuries with your loved one, reach out for legal assistance immediately:
- Falls resulting in fractures
- Elopement and wandering out of the facility
- Dehydration & malnutrition
- Recurrent infections
- Frequent UTIs
- A diagnosis of sepsis
- Evidence of physical, mental, or sexual abuse
- Frequent falls
- Unexplained broken bones
- Mistakes in medication dosage or frequency
- Bedsores or ulcers
These signs may indicate that an Enlivant assisted living facility is not doing its due diligence to protect your loved one. A legal professional can assist you in bringing a case as well as reporting the events to the relevant agencies, such as an ombudsman program in your area.
Call Senior Justice Law Firm now for a completely free case consultation to see if your family member’s injuries rise to the level of warranting an Enlivant negligence lawsuit – 888-375-9998.
Keeping a Resident in Memory Care When They Really Need a Nursing Home
A common theme in cases against Enlivant assisted living memory care facilities is keeping an inappropriate candidate in the facility. This allegation means the facility recognizes that the resident’s underlying conditions (like dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.) is getting worse, and their care needs are increasing. Despite this, they keep the resident inside the assisted living or memory care facility, and continue cashing the resident’s check. However, many of these resident’s acuity level (care needs) exceed the level that an ALF can provide. In reality, the resident needs the assistance of a 24/7 nursing facility, like a skilled nursing home.
When assisted living providers like Enlivant wrongfully keep a high acuity resident when they should have discharged them to a nursing home, this is an example of an inappropriate candidate for assisted living. If this resident then gets hurt in a fall or some other traumatic event, a provider like Enlivant cannot discharge their liability and claim, ‘well, we are only an assisted living facility, we do not provide 24 hour nursing care.’ Instead, the allegation is, you knew or should have known that you could not handle the resident’s needs, and you should have politely discharged the resident to a skilled nursing facility.
Enlivant is not the only long term care provider to face these allegations in memory care lawsuits. Wrongfully keeping a resident inside a memory care when they need to be in a nursing home is quite common across the industry. Unfortunately, residents are kept inside ALF’s because the facility likes to keep occupancy high. The allegation usually is the decision to retain is resident is based on greed, not on the resident’s wellbeing.
Lawsuits Enlivant Has Already Faced
Enlivant has continued to face legal challenges at both the federal and state levels. The nursing monolith was sued by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) in 2019 for discrimination against an employee. When Meeka Henderson provided documentation that she qualified for a medically necessary hysterectomy, Enlivant granted time off. However, after her surgery, the facility stated that she must return to work or her employment would be terminated. Henderson was terminated from the position despite furnishing a doctor’s note, which her attorneys allege violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case later resolved in Henderson’s favor, with Enlivant settling for $66,000 and significantly altering its human resources program.
A year earlier, in 2019, Enlivant faced legal action for similar employment concerns. The company was sued for coercive actions (surveillance) and coercive statements (such as threats or promises of benefits) by an employee who is not named in the case.
In 2023, an Enlivant senior living community director name Dara Little was sentenced to two years in federal prison after she embezzled more than $400,000. Little was also found to have committed timesheet fraud and theft of prescription medicine from the Enlivant assisted living facility.
Lawsuits Against Specific Enlivant Facilities Alleging Abuse, Neglect, and Wrongful Death
While Enlivant/Assisted Living Concepts, LLC has faced legal issues at the federal level, individual locations have also faced lawsuits alleging negligent resident care. Our attorneys have succesfully pursued negligence claims against Enlivant.
Some publicly available and non-confidential lawsuits brought against specific Enlivant facilities include:
The Case of Marie Duddy vs. Enlivant Savannah Place, South Carolina
The Enlivant facility located at 1501 Secessionville Road in Charleston, South Carolina came under fire for the death of resident Marie Duddy. Savannah Place staff faced enforcement actions from the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control following Duddy’s success at wandering from the facility. Savannah Place was criticized for its failure to address Duddy’s elopement behavior, which may have resulted from her diagnosis of dementia, prior to her departure from the building. In addition, the facility’s door alarms and notification system were found to be out of order on May 19. The issue was not resolved until May 23—the day after Duddy’s body was found in a marsh next to a nearby neighborhood. Staff state that the door alarms never went off, nor were staff paged about Duddy’s unauthorized exit. It is believed that she departed directly through the controlled entrance located at the front of the facility.
The Arrest of Multiple Enlivant Employees: Sandy Springs Place, Georgia
Three staff members at Enlivant-owned facility Sandy Springs Place, located at 1260 Hightower Trail in Atlanta, faced criminal charges after two victims died following physical altercations and an incident of choking. Staff member Tiffany Taylor was charged for assault and is facing felony elder abuse and aggravated battery charges after she pushed resident Roy Onan, age 82, and left him alone in a hallway. Onan sustained a broken hip during this altercation. In an unrelated incident, another resident was left on the floor for an undetermined amount of time, having suffered severe injuries from an altercation. Another resident was fed solid food after a staff member failed to perform a bedside swallow test; the resident, unable to adequately chew solid food, choked on the item and passed away as a result. The staff members involved in these incidents—Jeffrey Smith and Katrina Perkins—were also charged with felony elder abuse.
Will I Receive a Settlement from Enlivant?
Not all cases of elder abuse and neglect must be presented in court. Our attorneys can attempt to settle out of court, and we have succeeded in coming to an agreement outside of the courtroom for many of our clients. Our settlements have ranged across cases of bedsores, broken bones, wrongful death, and more. Almost all of these case settlements are confidential, so we cannot advertise them. Similarly, we cannot guarantee ahead of time how much your case may be worth, or how long it will take to settle a lawsuit versus Enlivant. However, our skilled attorneys will help you pursue the compensation that you deserve to help cover medical bills, treatment costs, and pain and suffering.
Senior Justice Law Firm Can Help Your Family Win a Case Against Enlivant
The many attorneys at Senior Justice Law Firm spend their time advocating for the rights of nursing home residents across America. Our attorneys have experience bringing claims against Enlivant, and we can help you secure as much in compensation as possible and hold the nursing home accountable for its behavior. We believe that justice should be available for all, which is why we offer our consultations free of charge and only accept payment out of any settlement that we secure for you. Call us now to learn more about your options, or reach out using our online form.
Suing Enlivant for Abusive Behavior: Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to settle a case against Enlivant?
You can see a detailed timeline of our normal case process below. We cannot guarantee exactly how long the process may take, because each case is unique. However, we strive to keep the suit as streamlined as possible so that you can focus on what matters most: your family.
Do I have a viable case against an Enlivant nursing home?
Your instincts are often correct when it comes to noticing when your loved one is not themselves. Do not hesitate to investigate your suspicions. Some types of injuries, such as bedsores, are a “never” event that are generally associated with negligent behavior. Falls are usually not the fault of the demented resident, but rather, the facility for failing to implement fall-preventative methods. Our attorneys can help you with this process and explain whether the evidence that we see is sufficient for a lawsuit against Enlivant for abuse or negligence.
What should I do if I discovered that my family member is being abused or neglected?
The most important thing you can do right away is seek medical treatment. Make sure to work with a doctor that is independent of the Enlivant facility to examine and treat your loved one. Sometimes, a local hospital ER is the best option. Next, contact the appropriate state agencies, like your local ombudsman program. If you need help determining where to make your report, reach out and we can offer guidance. You can also speak to our attorneys to determine your next steps in the legal process.
Aren’t lawsuits expensive? How much do you charge?
We believe that justice and peace for your family are the most important elements of a nursing home abuse or negligence case. This is why our firm works exclusively on contingency fee. This means that you do not have to pay for our services up front. There is no out of pocket charge to our attorneys, ever. Instead, if we recover money for you, we take 33.3% to 40% of the amount as our attorneys fees. This ensures that you will never have to worry about affording a lawyer to bring your Enlivant lawsuit.
How much can I get in an Enlivant lawsuit settlement or verdict?
It’s only reasonable to be curious about how much money you could secure by filing a lawsuit against an Enlivant facility. Your case is unique, and the individual factors surrounding your loved one’s treatment will impact how much a lawsuit can earn for you. We see the majority of our cases settle in the low six figures. This means between $100,000 to $500,000. However, we have many cases that resolve above $1 million, and many cases that resolve for less than $50,000. It all depends on the case facts.
What can I expect during the lawsuit process?
What are the steps of a lawsuit against Enlivant? How long does a case take? What do I have to do or provide? Most people have never filed a lawsuit before, so it is only reasonable that you have questions. Here is a generalized timeline of how cases of elder abuse will proceed:
- Pre-Suit Investigation: 10-45 days. During this time, we’ll ask you questions about what happened and learn as much as we can about the context surrounding the injury or death. At this point, we will be able to tell you based on the existing evidence whether your case can stand up in court.
- Notice to Enlivant: 30-90 days. Once we have compiled enough information to bring a case against the Enlivant facility where your loved one was injured, we will formally tell that location that we intend to sue them. At this point, Enlivant can choose to settle immediately to avoid going to court. We can conduct this process between the two parties over the phone, or we can secure the oversight of a mediator. Some cases can resolve at this point in an out of court settlement.
- Litigation and Discovery: 6 months – 2 years. If you or Enlivant do not agree to settle outside of court, we will proceed with the formal lawsuit. Officially, it is called a “Complaint” and this starts the lawsuit. After the complaint is filed, we will finish collecting all of the information that we can: medical records, witness statements, and more. We will speak with Enlivant staff and employees to gain more information as well. If you have evidence to contribute, it will also be reevaluated here.
- Mediation: almost every court mandates that the case goes to mediation (a settlement conference) before trial. Many cases settle at mediation.
- Trial: 3 days to 2 weeks. Trial in an assisted living case can be as short as 3 days to as long as 2 weeks. A simple case with many witnesses can be resolved in court much faster than a case in which Enlivant fails to admit liability.
- Will my case actually go to trial? Ultimately, less than 2% of our cases actually get to trial. The overwhelming majority of cases we accept settle well before trial.
Enlivant Assisted Living Facilities in Pennsylvania
These are Enlivant assisted living facilities and memory care units in PA:
- Allegheny Place
10960 Frankstown Rd.
Penn Hills, PA 15235 - Amity Place
139 Old Swede Road
Douglassville, PA 19518 - Barnes Place
2021 James St.
Latrobe, PA 15650 - Bayberry Place
101 Little Rd
Lower Burrell, PA 15068 - Clen-Moore Place
22 W. Clen Moore Blvd.
New Castle, PA 16105 - Garden Way Place
2400 Garden Way
Hermitage, PA 16148 - Leighton Place
1251 Rural Avenue
Williamsport, PA 17701 - Logan Place
139 Craigdell Road
Lower Burrell, PA 15068 - Lowrie Place
100 Stirling Village
Butler, PA 16001 - Maidencreek Place
105 Dries Road
Reading, PA 19605 - Marquis Gardens Place
660 Cherry Tree Lane
Uniontown, PA 15401 - McCullough Place
500 Cheney Oaks Dr.
Johnstown, PA 15905 - Moorehead Place
116 Madison Circle
Indiana, PA 15701 - Park Creek Place
1091 Horsham Road
North Wales, PA 19454 - Willowbrook Place
150 Edella Road
Clarks Summit, PA 18411 - Woodbourne Place
2619 Trenton Rd
Levittown, PA 19056 - Wyncote Place
240 Barker Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
Enlivant Assisted Living Facilities in Florida
The following Enlivant ALF’s are located in Florida:
- Highland Place, 700 Medical Court East Inverness, FL 34452
- Hunters Crossing Place, 4601 NW 53rd Avenue Gainesville, FL 32653
- Lehigh Acres Place, 1251 Business Way Lehigh Acres, FL 33936
- Wayman Place, 342 South Wayman Street Longwood, FL 32750
Illinois Enlivant Assisted Living Facilities
The following are Illinois Enlivant facilites:
- Cherryvale Place, 1545 Temple Lane Rockford, IL 61112
- Rock Run Place, 3320 Executive Drive Joliet, IL 60431
Georgia Enlivant Memory Care & ALFs
- Dalton Place
1300 West Waugh Street
Dalton, GA 30720 - Dublin Place
504 Firetower Road
Dublin, GA 31021 - Greenwood Place
1160 Whitlock Avenue
Marietta, GA 30064 - Kennesaw Place
2800 Jiles Road
Kennesaw, GA 30144 - Northstar Place
3250 Quick Water Landing
Kennesaw, GA 30144 - Seven Hills Place
279 Technology Pkwy
Rome, GA 30165
Take Action Against Enlivant for Abuse and Neglect
If you or someone you know has suffered injuries or even passed away as a result of abusive or negligent behavior in an Enlivant memory care or assisted living facility, you have options. Our experienced attorneys can help you navigate the legal process. Reach out via phone or online to get started. We are happy to be of service during this challenging time.
Disclaimer
*Each case is different. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome or indicate an expected outcome on your particular case. The above prior lawsuit information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is not provided in the course of an attorney-client relationship and is not intended to substitute for legal advice from an attorney. This individual case information above is publicly filed information gathered from the publicly filed complaint. This information and these cases are not the work of this law firm. The inspection results are provided from public government agency surveys. The state Department of Health conducts a survey of all nursing home facilities at least once every 15 months. The deficiencies listed on this page may have been corrected after the date of the inspection and date of publishing this material. Citations, ratings, statistics, and deficiencies are current as of the date of this post and will change later on. The inspection findings published are not complete. You may find the most up to date information at medicare.gov. This material is not endorsed by the facility noted or by any governmental agency. Speak with an attorney immediately if you believe you have a viable case against a nursing home, assisted living facility, or medical facility.
