Mealey's Elder Law
-
February 11, 2021
Kentucky High Court Applies Stepparent Exception To Suit Over Grandparent Visitation
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Because Kentucky’s grandparent visitation statute does not address issues raised in an action brought by a paternal grandfather to continue visiting his granddaughter, who had been adopted by her maternal grandmother, the Kentucky Supreme Court applied a statutory stepparent exception to the case. The state high court on Jan. 21 reversed and remanded to the family court to determine whether visitation was in the child’s best interest.
-
February 10, 2021
Massachusetts High Court Reverses Medicaid Eligibility Denial Over Nominee Trust
BOSTON — The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts on Feb. 9 reversed a decision by the state’s Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, that a woman was ineligible for long-term care benefits from Medicaid, finding that her creation of a nominee trust did not make her property a countable asset.
-
February 10, 2021
California High Court Asked To Clarify Application Of Insurance Code To Policy
SAN FRANCISCO — Appellants recently asked the California Supreme Court to clarify the application of California Insurance Code Sections 10113.71 and 10113.72 “consistent with their plain language and remedial purpose” and direct an appeals court to confirm the application of these statutes to a $1 million life insurance policy, arguing that the appeals court’s opinion “leaves vulnerable” senior and disabled policyholders that the statutes intended to protect.
-
February 09, 2021
United Precision Settles Claims Of Age Bias Against Applicant For $60,000
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on Feb. 9 signed a consent decree reached between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a Michigan company under which the employer will pay $60,000 to end claims that it refused to hire a job applicant due to his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
-
February 08, 2021
Appeals Court Affirms Expert Witness Testimony Inadmissible In Nursing Home Suit
TRENTON, N.J. — The assertion from an expert witness in a slip-and-fall case that nursing home staff should inspect a resident’s room once per hour is inadmissible net opinion, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Feb. 5, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment for malpractice liability.
-
February 08, 2021
Amended Order Grants Final Approval To $11.6M PwC Age Bias Settlement
OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Feb. 4 issued an amended order granting final approval of a settlement by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to end a collective and class age discrimination complaint by job applicants that includes a more than $11.6 million settlement and two years of programmatic relief.
-
February 05, 2021
Justice Orders New York Health Department To Provide COVID Nursing Home Death Data
ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York justice on Feb. 3 ordered the state Department of Health (DOH) to produce records of the number of COVID-19-related deaths among nursing home and assisted living residents in the state, finding that the department had violated the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) by rebuffing a nonprofit organization’s request for the information for more than six months.
-
February 04, 2021
ADA, Fair Housing Claims Survive In Nonprofit’s Suit Against Assisted Living Facility
TUCSON, Ariz. — A federal judge in Arizona on Feb. 1 denied an assisted living facility’s motion for summary judgment on a nonprofit organization’s claims that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA) by unlawfully discriminating against deaf individuals, finding that questions of fact exist regarding whether the facility’s refusal to provide an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter for a potential resident who is deaf “constituted a denial of a full and equal opportunity to enjoy Defendant’s services.”
-
February 04, 2021
$11.6M PwC Age Bias Class, Collective Settlement Granted Final Approval
OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Feb. 3 granted final approval of a settlement by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to end a collective and class age discrimination complaint by job applicants that includes a more than $11.6 million settlement and two years of programmatic relief.
-
February 04, 2021
Appeals Court Says Unlicensed Management Companies Can Operate Nursing Homes
SAN FRANCISCO — A California appeals court on Jan. 29 affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group challenging the legality of allowing unlicensed management companies to operate skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), finding that the group lacked standing and that the operation of SNFs by unlicensed management companies does not violate state or federal law.
-
February 03, 2021
Divided High Court: Railroad Board Benefit Denial Subject To Judicial Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 3 ruled that the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board’s denial of a former railroad worker’s request to reopen a benefits request under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) and the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) is subject to judicial review because it constitutes a final decision of the board.
-
February 03, 2021
6th Circuit: Demotion Worker Accepted Is Not Actionable Discharge
CINCINNATI — An employee’s decision to apply for and accept a demotion after being placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) is not an actionable discharge under Ohio Revised Code Section 4112.14, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Jan. 28.
-
February 02, 2021
Plaintiff In COVID Nursing Home Case Rejects U.S. Input On PREP Act, Urges Remand
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “Federal courts are the experts in deciding removal jurisdiction, not HHS and not the U.S. Attorney,” the plaintiff in a COVID-19-related wrongful death case against a nursing home argues in a Jan. 28 response to a statement of interest filed by the United States regarding the preemptive effect of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
-
February 02, 2021
High Court Won’t Review Constitutionality Of Texas Advance Directives Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 11 refused to review a case in which a medical center that refused to provide further treatment to a terminally ill patient following a committee meeting on the ethics and medical value of continued care asked it to determine whether a safe harbor provision in the Texas Advance Directives Act is constitutional and whether the center was taking a state action by denying additional care.
-
February 01, 2021
3rd Circuit: Age Of Replacement Not Needed During Pleading Stage
PHILADELPHIA — The exact ages of a surgeon’s replacements are not needed during the pleading stage for his age bias claim to survive a dismissal motion, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Jan. 29.
-
January 29, 2021
Marketing Company To Pay $150 Million For Facilitating Elder Fraud Schemes
DENVER — A major marketing company will pay $150 million to resolve a criminal charge for selling millions of Americans’ information to perpetrators of elder fraud schemes after a federal judge in Colorado on Jan. 27approved a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) the company entered into with the U.S. Department of Justice.
-
January 29, 2021
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Disputing Amount Of Man’s Retirement Benefits
PITTSBURGH — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 26 affirmed the dismissal of a man’s challenge to the calculation of his Social Security retirement benefits. A lower court correctly found that it had no jurisdiction over four claims alleging failure to include income and due process violations and that a fifth claim regarding an alleged employment termination in 1998 was time-barred, a Third Circuit panel said.
-
January 29, 2021
Nursing Home Resident COVID Deaths Underreported, New York Attorney General Says
ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Department of Health (DOH) appears to have undercounted the number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 by approximately 50 percent, the state attorney general said Jan. 28 in issuing the preliminary results of an investigation that also found that noncompliance with infection control procedures and inadequate staffing levels at some facilities put residents at increased risk.
-
January 29, 2021
New Hampshire High Court Reverses Ruling That Woman’s Will Shut Out Son
CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed a probate court’s ruling that a deceased woman’s son, who was not named or referred to in her will, was not a pretermitted heir, concluding Jan. 20 that the lower court erred in applying the law of Massachusetts instead of New Hampshire to the issue.
-
January 28, 2021
5th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Age Bias Suit With Older Replacement
NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 22 denied a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc by a health care services company challenging the panel’s Dec. 23 opinion reinstating a fired social worker’s age bias claim after determining that the company’s hiring of an older replacement didn’t negate the claim.