The attorney representing scores of Louisiana nursing home residents who were evacuated to a sweltering, ill-equipped warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida last year is looking to appeal a $12.5 million class action settlement.
The class action settlement approved by Jefferson Parish Judge Michael Mentz earlier this month is seen as inadequate by New Orleans attorney Morris Bart, who represents 180 out of the more than 800 residents who could receive compensation as a result of the class action.
“Right now we’re actively considering appealing it,” Bart told the Louisiana Record. “We think that it’s unfair and unjust to all the residents who went through a horrendous situation in that warehouse.”
Judge Mentz concluded that the elderly plaintiffs should get some compensation for their ordeal during the hurricane as soon as possible, he said. Some of the residents of the nursing homes operated by defendant Bob Dean have already died.
“It boils down to the classic discussion, or argument, of time vs. money,” Bart said. “... These are elderly plaintiffs, and of course the more it’s delayed, the more justice is denied. And the judge came down on the side of timeliness.”
Dean didn’t have to put down a single dollar of his own money toward the $12.5 million settlement, he said, noting that the settlement funds come from insurance payouts. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have uncovered $15 million to $20 million in equity and viable assets belonging to Dean that could be added to a legal settlement, according to Bart.
The interest of justice demands that plaintiffs go after the assets in order to hold Dean accountable for the life-threatening conditions the nursing home residents endured, he said.
About 230 of the nursing home residents filed legal actions against Dean, who is also facing criminal charges.
Dean’s attorneys have said their client faces financial ruin and suffers from dementia and a bipolar disorder.