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Some of the older residents of seven years Louisiana nursing homes that were sent in 2021 to ride away Hurricane Ida in an overcrowded, poorly equipped warehouse, shares of a nearly $9 million settlement are being offered after they sued.
Retired state judge William “Rusty” Knight told The Times-Picayune New Orleans that all 427 former residents who filed lawsuits be sent letters stating the proposed solution. Knight said the amounts vary based on individual patient circumstances.
People who do not dispute the amount offered can expect to receive the money within a few weeks. A hearing will be held in January for those who want to fight for a settlement.
“It’s been a longer journey to get here than we wanted,” Knight said. “Nobody gets what they should. Honestly, 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, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans.
Authorities said conditions at the warehouse deteriorated sharply following a severe storm on August 29, 2021. They found sick and elderly people bedridden on mattresses on the wet floor, some crying for help, some lying in their own waste. Civil suits against Dean’s corporation allege that the ceiling leaked and toilets overflowed in the hot warehouse, and there was too little food and water.
Days after the storm hit, the state reported the deaths of seven evacuees, five of which were 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. In July, Dean pleaded no contest to 15 felony counts and was sentenced to three years of probation, paying $258,000 in restitution and more than $1 million in fines.
Last month, Dean agreed to pay $8.2 million to the federal government to settle allegations that he misappropriated assets and proceeds from four nursing homes whose loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Prosecutors say he funneled money from the nursing home into his personal bank accounts, using the money to buy antiques, guns and cars.
But Dean also faced civil or legal claims from 427 of the 843 patients taken to Independence, or their surviving relatives. Many plaintiffs and their attorneys suggested that Dean was hiding other assets.
“There is no real justice after what my clients have endured,” attorney Matthew Hemmer, who represents hundreds of nursing home victims, told WVUE-TV.
Knight said he knows of 165 former Dean residents who have died since the evacuation, and said he expects to learn more people have died as responses to the settlement offer come back.