In the Courts: Jury Awards $7.5M to Estate of Resident Sexually Assaulted by Another Resident

​After a jury awarded $7.5 million in a case alleging sexual assault of one nursing home resident by another, the nursing facility and its parent company reached a $6.75 million settlement with the plaintiffs, according to a May 8, 2018, article in the Legal Intelligencer.

The 82-year-old resident had dementia. She was in a relationship with another male resident, who was 20 years younger than she was and had cerebral palsy. The facility knew that he had previously been convicted of rape and was a registered sex offender. While living at the facility, he allegedly threatened to rape a staff member, and staff had voiced concerns about his sexually aggressive behavior toward the resident before the assault. According to the plaintiffs, the male resident allegedly targeted their loved one because she had dementia. The facility knew that the residents were in a relationship and that the resident, because of her dementia, did not have capacity to consent. The facility also had policies against leaving the two residents together and unsupervised in a room, which it allegedly failed to follow. The resident also experienced more than...