Kennesaw, GA, Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers
Deciding to move a beloved family member to a nursing home or assisted living facility is one of the most difficult choices a family can make. You spend countless hours researching, touring facilities, and asking questions, all to find a safe, caring, and respectful environment. But what if you suspect they have been injured or neglected in that facility? An experienced Kennesaw, GA, nursing home neglect lawyer can be your family’s strongest advocate to protect your loved one.
You placed your ultimate trust in the facility and its staff to provide the care your loved one needs and deserves. When that trust is broken, and you discover that your loved one has been harmed by abuse or neglect, the sense of betrayal, anger, and guilt can be powerful. You do not need to face this situation alone, and you have the right to demand answers and accountability.
The dedicated team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter is committed to protecting our community’s most vulnerable residents. If you suspect nursing home abuse or neglect, contact us today for a free, confidential, and compassionate consultation.
Recognizing the Warning Signs of Neglect and Abuse
One of the greatest challenges for families is identifying the signs of mistreatment. Many elderly residents are unable or afraid to speak up about what is happening to them. They may suffer from dementia or other cognitive impairments, or they may fear retaliation from the staff. It is often up to vigilant, loving family members to spot the red flags that indicate something is terribly wrong.
If you have noticed any of the following signs, it is crucial to take them seriously.
Signs of Physical Neglect
Neglect is often the result of understaffing, poor training, or a simple lack of care. It is a failure to provide for a resident’s basic needs. Look for these signs:
- Bedsores (Pressure Ulcers): These are a key sign of neglect, caused by a resident being left in one position for too long without being moved.
- Poor Personal Hygiene: Unkempt appearance, dirty clothes or bedding, strong odor of urine or feces.
- Malnutrition or Dehydration: Unexplained weight loss, sunken eyes, dry mouth, weakness.
- Unsafe or Unsanitary Living Conditions: Dirty rooms, pest infestations, or hazards left in hallways.
- Frequent Falls: While some falls happen, an unusual number of falls can indicate a lack of proper supervision or assistance.
Signs of Physical or Emotional Abuse
Abuse involves a deliberate act intended to cause harm, fear, or intimidation. Watch out for:
- Unexplained Injuries: Bruises, welts, cuts, or broken bones, especially if the facility’s explanation seems unlikely or inconsistent.
- Bruises on the Wrists or Ankles: This can be a sign of improper physical restraint.
- Sudden Behavioral Changes: A resident who becomes withdrawn, agitated, non-communicative, or fearful, especially around certain staff members.
- Staff Refusing to Leave You Alone with Your Loved One: This can be a tactic to prevent the resident from speaking freely about mistreatment.
Signs of Financial Exploitation
This form of abuse involves the illegal or improper use of a resident’s funds, property, or assets. Check for:
- Sudden, unexplained changes in a will or power of attorney.
- Missing personal property, cash, or checks.
- Unusual bank account withdrawals or charges.
- A new “best friend” on staff who begins to isolate the resident from their family.
Neglect vs. Abuse: Understanding the Legal Difference
While both are devastating, the law sees a distinction between neglect and abuse.
- Neglect is generally defined as a failure to act or a breach of the duty of care. It is passive. A caregiver fails to provide food, water, medicine, or repositioning. The harm is caused by inaction.
- Abuse is defined as a willful, intentional act that causes harm. It is active. A caregiver hits, yells at, steals from, or improperly restrains a resident.
At Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, we are prepared to handle either type of claim. Whether the harm was caused by a systemic failure of a short-staffed facility or the deliberate cruelty of a single employee, we will fight to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Our Kennesaw Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Protect Your Loved One’s Rights in Georgia Nursing Homes
Residents of long-term care facilities in Georgia do not lose their fundamental rights. They are protected by a “Bill of Rights” that ensures they are treated with dignity and respect. When a facility violates these rights, it can be held legally and financially responsible.
These rights include:
- The Right to Be Free from Abuse: The right to live in a safe environment, free from physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse or neglect.
- The Right to Proper Medical Care: The right to receive appropriate medical treatment, including proper medication administration and care that meets the accepted standard.
- The Right to Dignity and Respect: The right to be treated with consideration and to have one’s privacy respected.
- The Right to Voice Grievances: The right to complain about care or treatment without fear of punishment or retaliation from the staff or facility. You can also report issues to the Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman, a program designed to advocate for residents.
- The Right to Be Informed: The right to be fully informed about their medical condition and to participate in their own care planning.
When a nursing home’s actions or inactions violate these fundamental rights and cause harm, it is grounds for a legal claim.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?
When a resident suffers harm, the blame often extends far beyond a single negligent caregiver. Nursing home abuse and neglect are frequently symptoms of a deeper, systemic problem within the facility or its parent corporation. A thorough investigation is necessary to identify every party whose decisions contributed to your loved one’s suffering. Our goal is to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Potential defendants in a nursing home neglect lawsuit can include:
- The Nursing Home Facility: The facility itself is almost always a primary defendant. It can be held directly liable for its own negligence, such as:
- Understaffing: This is a leading cause of neglect. When a facility prioritizes profits over people by failing to hire enough nurses and aides, residents’ basic needs go unmet, leading to falls, bedsores, and malnutrition.
- Negligent Hiring: Hiring staff members with a known history of abuse or without conducting proper background checks.
- Inadequate Training: Failing to properly train staff on critical procedures like fall prevention, safe patient transfers, or recognizing signs of medical distress.
- Failure to Supervise: Lacking proper oversight of its employees, allowing a culture of neglect or abuse to develop.
- The Individual Employee: The specific nurse, aide, or other staff member who committed a willful act of abuse can be held individually liable for their actions.
- The Parent Corporation: Many nursing homes in the Kennesaw area are owned and operated by large, out-of-state corporations. These parent companies often set the budgets and staffing policies that lead to dangerous conditions on the ground floor. We have the resources and experience to pursue claims against these large corporate entities to demand accountability at the highest level.
- Third-Party Contractors: Sometimes, a facility will contract with outside companies for services like therapy or medical care. If an employee of a third-party contractor harms a resident, that company may also be held liable.
Why Choose Williams Elleby Howard & Easter for Your Nursing Home Case
Choosing a law firm to handle a case of this magnitude and sensitivity is a critical decision. You need a team that not only possesses deep legal knowledge but also demonstrates genuine compassion for what your family is going through. Nursing homes and their corporate owners are defended by aggressive law firms and insurance companies; you need an equally powerful team on your side.
Here’s why families in Kennesaw trust us to be their advocates:
- We Understand the Unique Laws: Nursing home litigation is a complicated area of law. We have a thorough understanding of the federal and state regulations that govern long-term care facilities, as well as the Georgia Residents’ Bill of Rights. We use this knowledge to expose violations and build a strong case.
- We Have the Resources to Fight Corporations: These are not simple cases. They often require extensive investigation, detailed review of thousands of pages of medical and facility records, and testimony from medical and nursing home administration professionals. We have the financial resources and professional network to take on the largest healthcare corporations.
- We Are Compassionate Allies: We know that this is an emotional and difficult journey. We treat every client with the dignity, respect, and personal attention they deserve. We listen to your story, explain your options in clear terms, and support you every step of the way.
- We Are Committed to Accountability: Our goal is more than just securing a financial settlement. We aim to hold negligent facilities fully accountable for their actions, forcing them to change their policies and practices. By doing so, we not only seek justice for your loved one but also help protect other residents in our community from suffering the same fate.
Damages Available in a Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit
While no amount of money can erase the harm and betrayal your loved one has experienced, a successful lawsuit can provide the financial resources needed for their care and can deliver a powerful measure of justice.
We can fight for compensation for:
- Medical Expenses: The cost of all medical treatment required to care for the injuries caused by the abuse or neglect, including hospitalizations, wound care, and rehabilitative therapy.
- Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the physical pain and emotional anguish your loved one endured.
- Disability and Disfigurement: For permanent harm, such as scarring from bedsores or a permanent impairment from a fall.
- Wrongful Death: If the neglect or abuse led to your loved one’s death, certain family members can file a wrongful death claim to recover damages for various losses.
- Punitive Damages: In cases involving willful misconduct, fraud, or a conscious indifference to the consequences, which may occur in severe abuse or systemic neglect cases, we can ask a jury to award punitive damages. These damages are designed to punish the facility and deter similar conduct in the future.
Contact Our Experienced Kennesaw Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Today
Discovering that your loved one has been harmed in a place you trusted to keep them safe is a heartbreaking experience. Let the dedicated legal team at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter protect their rights and be their voice. We will stand up to the powerful nursing home corporations and fight for the dignity, justice, and compensation your family deserves.
Your consultation is always free, confidential, and handled with the utmost sensitivity. Because we work on a contingency fee basis, you pay nothing upfront and no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you. Consult Kennesaw personal injury lawyer today, call at (404) 389-1035 or complete our online contact form to learn how we can help protect your family.
Kennesaw, GA, Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers FAQs
If you believe your loved one is in immediate danger, call 911. Your next step should be to report your concerns to the facility’s administrator in writing and to the Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Then, contact an experienced nursing home neglect attorney immediately. Our attorneys can explain how to preserve evidence and launch a legal investigation to protect your loved one’s rights.
No. It is illegal for a nursing home to retaliate against a resident or their family for voicing a complaint, raising concerns, or filing a lawsuit. This is a direct violation of the Residents’ Bill of Rights. If a facility attempts any form of retaliation, it can be subject to additional legal and regulatory penalties.
Proving causation is a key part of these cases. We do this by working with highly qualified medical and nursing professionals. For example, a nursing expert can review facility records to show that the staff failed to follow a fall-prevention plan or did not have a proper turning schedule to prevent bedsores. A medical doctor can then testify that this specific failure in care was the direct cause of your loved one’s injury. This combination of legal strategy and expert analysis is crucial to winning these cases.
Williams Elleby Howard & Easter – Kennesaw Office
3450 Acworth Due West Road, Ste. 610
Kennesaw, GA 30144
P: (404-389-1035)
