A long-running California class action lawsuit filed against Brookdale Senior Living will go forward early next year after a judge granted a motion to certify three community-based subclasses in the case.
A Brookdale spokesperson told McKnight’s Senior Living that the company was pleased with some of the court’s decisions and will continue to defend itself against the allegations with which it does not agree.
In the 2017 Stiner vs. Brookdale Senior Living case, current and former residents of Brookdale’s California assisted living communities sued the country’s largest senior living company, alleging elder financial abuse and widespread violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The communities were former Emeritus Senior Living properties rebranded under Brookdale after the companies merged in 2014.
The complaint alleged that understaffing prevented residents’ activities of daily living needs from being met. The complaint alleged medication errors and lack of clean clothing, showers, nutritious food and supervision.
The residents also alleged that Brookdale violated the ADA and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by not addressing multiple barriers in their rooms and throughout the communities, by restricting the number of people in wheelchairs who can participate in weekly outings, and by not providing a sufficient number of caregivers for residents with cognitive and other impairments.
The complaint also alleged that Brookdale violated the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, committing elder financial abuse and fraud.
The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in January.
Court certifies classes
July 22, the court granted plaintiff’s motion to certify the subclasses at Brookdale San Ramon, an assisted living community in San Ramon; Brookdale Scotts Valley, an assisted living community in Scotts Valley; and Brookdale Brookhurst, an assisted living and memory care community in Westminster, to pursue declaratory and injunctive relief. But the court also denied a motion certifying the San Ramon, Scotts Valley, Brookhurst, Fountaingrove and Brookdale Tracy, an assisted living and memory care community in Tracy, facility-based subclasses seeking statutory damages for lack of predominance. It also denied a motion to certify a proposed Brookdale Sunwest in Hemet subclass for lack of numerosity, or a large enough class of affected individuals.
Further, the courts granted in part and denied in part Brookdale’s motion for clarification of a March 30, 2023, order. The court confirmed that its 2023 order excluded manually powered wheelchair users from the wheelchair and scooter user subclass definition but did not limit that definition to include only current residents. That decision also denied certification of a class of more than 7,000 residents for disability access claims related to ADA claims.
A Brookdale spokesperson told McKnight’s Senior Living that it was pleased with the court’s decision denying the majority of the plaintiffs’ requests related to the ADA claims. The company also said it was pleased with the court’s March 2023 decision denying the plaintiffs’ requests related to the alleged Consumer Protection Act claims.
“Brookdale continues to disagree with all remaining allegations asserted and will continue to defend,” the spokesperson said. “Brookdale is proud of the quality care and services our employees provide to residents.”
Brookdale has faced several lawsuits in recent years based on allegations related to the quality of its services and company representations of those services to the public. A class action lawsuit filed in 2020 accused the company of “chronically insufficient staffing” at its communities to meet financial benchmarks.
The company also faced a shareholder lawsuit, tossed by a federal judge earlier this year, alleging misconduct by company executives trying to meet financial targets, causing the company to allegedly intentionally underestimate data used for staffing algorithms.
