Two Minnesota Law Firms Launch Case over Nursing Home Abuse

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MNTwo law firms have brought litigation against the Good Samaritan nursing facility and four fired aids over recent charges of nursing home abuse involving several patients suffering from dementia.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">The nursing home was the subject of multiple state investigations in 2008 that linked six aides to the physical and sexual abuse of seven residents at the center. Two of the dismissed aides face more than 21 criminal charges in a trial opening later this year, while the remaining defendants await dates for similar trials.

The facility never contested the findings of the investigations performed by the state Health Department and law enforcement organizations. Officials at the home and its parent company, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, claimed to be completely unaware of the alleged abuse until it was reported by another aide.

"We always knew this was a possibility, but we also know that the [Minnesota] Health Department essentially exonerated us," said Mark Dickerson, a spokesman for the Good Samaritan Society, to the Star Tribune.