A man with developmental disabilities claims Rescare is guilty of disability discrimination.
Richard Alphonso filed his complaint in federal court against Rescare Residential Services Louisiana LLC and Southern Home Care Services Inc. alleging negligence, violations of the Louisiana Bill of Rights for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and discrimination based on disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
According to the complaint, Alphonso lived at Sharps Lane and Trippi Road Group Homes in Hammond. The homes are operated by Rescare and SHCS. Because of his intellectual impairments and severe diabetes, Alphonso says he was dependent on others for all food preparation and needed supervision in daily activities such as bathing and toileting.
Because of his disabilities that resulted in urinary incontinence, Alphonso says his bedding was frequently extremely wet throughout the day and his room "reeked of urine even when a window was opened to air the room out." And because of his diabetes, he says the staff should have known he was unsteady on his feet but failed to supervise and take precautions to prevent him from falling.
On March 5, 2023, Alphonso fell in the bathroom of the Sharps Lane group home, seriously injuring himself while unsupervised. He was taken to North Oaks Medical Center and was diagnosed with a broken ankle and facial trauma. The complaint says emergency room doctors also found Alphonso had suffered a broken tibia from an unreported prior injury that resulted in a blood infection that had entered his blood stream through the fracture.
After he was moved to the Trippi Lane home following his hospitalization, Alphonso says officials promised to take safety measures for him at the new home. Those included installing a fence around the property, bars throughout the home and a larger bed as well as promised visits to an endocrinologist, a dermatologist and a urologist.
But, Alphonso says those promises were kept. On May 22, 2023, he was taken to the hospital again after falling a few days earlier at the Trippi Lane home. He injured his hip, suffered a femoral neck fracture and a toe fracture.
"Although staff had witnessed the fall, they did not report the incident until days later when plaintiff could not get out of bed, eat, or move,
the complaint states. "His right side, from hip to his toe, was swollen. By the time plaintiff was sent to the hospital, he was experiencing extreme pain, low oxygen, high fever and other physical issues."
Alphonso says this neglect resulted in significant and painful injuries. He seeks compensatory damages.