A Georgia jury has returned a $23.6 million verdict against PruittHealth and related entities in a nursing home case involving a beloved longtime baseball coach from Fitzgerald, Georgia, who died while a nursing home resident. The coach was also a devoted father and grandfather.
BBGA Attorney Evan Jones and Lance Lourie of Cunningham Bounds Trial Attorneys served as lead trial counsel for the family. The verdict followed a trial in Gwinnett County State Court and years of work by attorneys and staff from both firms.
Coach Tested Positive for Unprescribed Controlled Medications
While living in the nursing home, the coach twice tested positive for morphine, lorazepam and hydrocodone. None of those medications had been prescribed to him. Evidence presented at trial showed that only nurses at the facility had access to the controlled medications.
The case also involved evidence of chronic understaffing at the facility during the coach’s residency and the loss of surveillance video that should have been preserved as evidence. There was also evidence that the facility’s administrator attempted to conceal what had happened. The facility’s former medical director later became an important witness at trial.
PruittHealth maintained throughout the case that the unauthorized administration of the medications either did not occur or, if it did, caused no harm or did not contribute to the coach’s death.
The Jury Awards $23.6 Million
After hearing the evidence, the jury awarded $12.6 million to the coach’s estate for his pain and suffering and $11 million to his surviving family for the full value of his life.
The jury also found that other PruittHealth-related companies could be held responsible for the damages. That finding involved two legal concepts known as agency and piercing the corporate veil.
Agency can allow one company to be held responsible for the actions of another when the relationship between them meets certain legal requirements. Piercing the corporate veil allows a court to look beyond the legal separation between related companies in certain circumstances and hold those companies responsible for damages.
In this case, the jury found PruittHealth, Inc. and United Health Services of Georgia, Inc. responsible for the damages through findings of agency and piercing the corporate veil. Judgment was entered against PruittHealth-Fitzgerald, LLC, PruittHealth, Inc., and United Health Services of Georgia, Inc. for the $23.6 million verdict, plus court costs and interest.
A Team Effort Years in the Making
The verdict followed years of work by the legal teams at BBGA and Cunningham Bounds Trial Attorneys.
Jones and Lourie served as lead trial counsel, with attorneys and staff from both firms working throughout the case to prepare witnesses, organize and analyze extensive evidence, develop trial exhibits and demonstratives and manage the many details required to bring the case to trial.
“This case was about accountability for a beloved coach, father and grandfather whose family deserved answers about what happened to him,” Jones said. “This verdict was the result of an extraordinary team effort.”
Jones also credited Lourie and the Cunningham Bounds team for their partnership throughout the case.
Most importantly, we are grateful to the family for trusting BBGA and Cunningham Bounds with this case and with telling the story of their beloved father and grandfather.
If you believe a loved one has suffered abuse or neglect in a Georgia nursing home, or if you are an attorney seeking experienced co-counsel for a nursing home case, contact BBGA to learn more about how our team can help. You can reach us by phone at 706-354-4000.