Chicago Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit Accuses Willowbrook Assisted Living Facility of Failing to Protect Patient from Sexual Assault by Another Resident
The daughter of a woman who was the alleged victim of sexual assault is suing Chateau Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for Cook County nursing home neglect. Laura Swanson, who is the executor of her mother Georgiann Palmer’s estate, is seeking over $1 million in punitive damages and $50,000 in actual damages.
Swanson is accusing the Willowbrook assisted living facility of nursing neglect and “willful and wanton” conduct. In her Chicago, Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that her mother was sexually assaulted on May 7, 2009 by a fellow assisted living facility resident.
Swanson contends that even though nursing home employee Kim Frankenfield had determined that it was best not to admit Palmer’s alleged assailant as a resident—he had a history of propositioning others for sex and she concluded that the assisted living facility would not be able to properly care for him—the nursing home still decided to admit him in May 2009. The complaint claims that Frankenfield was fired for telling the authorities about her determination.
Palmer passed away of unrelated causes several months after the alleged sex assault.
Nursing Home Sexual Assault Crimes
Too many Cook County nursing home residents have become the victims of sexual and/or violent crimes involving fellow patients as the assailants. It doesn’t help that many residents are unable to care for themselves let alone fend off any kind of attack. Often, residents are physically unable to report what happened or they may be too scared.
It is a shame that nursing home patients are made vulnerable to becoming the victims of crimes at the very places that are paid to provide them with the care that they need. You can sue an assisted living facility if its workers’ failed to protect you or your loved one from Chicago, Illinois nursing home abuse, nursing neglect, or patient violence.
Lawsuit alleges sexual assault at Chateau Village, Pioneer Local, April 6, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Chateau Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
Nursing home sexual violence: 86 Chicago cases since July 2007 — but only 1 arrest, Chicago Tribune, January 26, 2010
