In a bid to remove a “veil of arbitration secrecy,” one state attorney general filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit alleging elder abuse at a memory care facility.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a motion to intervene on Friday in an abuse and neglect lawsuit against Senita Ridge, the memory care community on the campus of Ridges at Peoria in Peoria, AZ. A judge’s Oct. 31 order moved the case to arbitration, but Mayes charged that the secrecy of arbitration removes transparency in an elder abuse case, which violates the state’s Adult Protective Services Act. The act requires notification to the state’s top attorney when a lawsuit alleging elder abuse or neglect is filed, allowing the state to track and potentially join the case.
“Moving cases behind a veil of arbitration secrecy is not only illegal, it blocks me from performing one of my most important duties — protecting vulnerable adults,” Mayes said in a release. “Transparency is key to protecting vulnerable adults, which is why the legislature enacted this reporting requirement to begin with. In this case, that important process was hidden.”
Arbitration agreements are common in senior living facilities and viewed by the industry as an effective way to resolve legal disputes. But Mayes said those agreements cross a legal line when they keep secret allegations of elder abuse.
The Adult Protective Services Act gives the attorney general the right to intervene in elder abuse cases to ask the courts for remedies ranging from permanent injunctions against abusive behavior to removing facility owners to closing communities.
Mayes said families deserve to know how past residents were treated by an assisted living facility before deciding to move their loved ones into a community.
“Unfortunately, we have seen from recent news stories that the regulatory agencies do not always have the resources or the authority to punish assisted living facilities offering substandard care,” Mayes said. “Any arbitration agreement with a confidentiality clause is illegal under Arizona law, and I will ask the court to void those agreements until the facilities stop using them.”
The case behind the motion
Rose Marie Scheske moved into Senita Ridge, the memory care facility on the Ridges at Peoria campus in Peoria, AZ, on June 17, 2021. Her daughter maintained power of attorney and signed all of Scheske’s admission paperwork, which included an arbitration agreement.
Scheske filed suit on Oct. 31, 2022, against the Ridges at Peoria and Minnesota-based The Goodman Group, which manages the campus, alleging elder abuse and neglect. The suit specifically accuses the staff of providing Scheske with overdoses of certain medications, failure to administer other medications, failure to provide a suitable diet, and failure to maintain a safe environment.
On Oct. 31, 2023, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted a motion to move the case to arbitration, leading to the state attorney general to intervene in the case.
The Goodman Group did not respond to a request for comment from McKnight’s Senior Living prior to story production deadline.
