A temporary restraining order has been issued against nursing home owner Bob Dean in the wake of a class action lawsuit filed against the parties after seven residents died during emergency evacuation ahead of Hurricane Ida.
The lawsuit says that the nursing home residents "endured horrific and inhumane conditions" due to Dean's alleged negligence.
Plaintiffs' co-counsel, Donald Massey, told the Louisiana Record that, "Bob Dean doesn't have any business taking care of either plants or pets, much less ever caring for a vulnerable population of elderly and infirm patients."
Massey said that Dean's nursing home licenses have been revoked.
"We're elated by that," Massey said.
The temporary restraining order states that Dean and the seven nursing homes cannot further violate the plaintiff's rights under the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights Act, including, the right to receive adequate and appropriate protective and support services, the right to have privacy and confidentiality in caring for personal needs and the right to be treated courteously, fairly and with the fullest measure of dignity, according to the court documents.
The lawsuit states that "unconscionable anguish is being visited upon the Plaintiffs, the putative class, and their families by the continued failures and violations of the Defendants and the nursing homes that they run."
The complaint continues to state that the nursing home residents and their families have still not completely been reunited.
"These Defendants cannot be trusted to adequately house them after their catastrophic failures and unrepentant attitude," the complaint states. "Irreparable harm is occurring, and this Court’s immediate intervention is necessary."
Massey said that there has been "nothing done" to communicate with residents, families and their loved ones about the whereabouts of these people.
"We're two weeks out, almost, and people can't find their loved ones," Massey said.