At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park became the site of one of the deadliest outbreaks in the nation. While the facility initially underreported the death count, stating 62 died of Covid, it later acknowledged 39 additional resident deaths were due to Covid-19—making the total a staggering 101.
According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, Covid-19 positive residents were separated from dementia patients by a loosely hung piece of plastic. Moreover, employees at the facility were discouraged from using face masks in caring for patients, with one plan discussed to discipline employees over “mask insubordination.” Managers also delayed informing families of residents about the outbreak.
Now, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has agreed to pay $53 million to the families of 119 residents, most of whom died from Covid-19 at the state-run facilities at Menlo Park and the Paramus Veterans Memorial Homes. The payout settles claims that officials at these facilities acted with gross negligence in handling the outbreak, according to nursing home and infection control standards.
In addition to the families of those who died, the settlement also includes “a few [who] had family members who caught COVID at the homes and survived,” reports NorthJersey.com, while separate “lawsuits by employees — including the family of at least one deceased nursing aide — are still ongoing.”
The settlement calls for the state to disburse 60% of the total amount in equal payments of $267,000 to each family in the agreement during the first quarter of 2022, said Paul da Costa, a lawyer who represented 72 of the residents’ families. The balance will be paid out by July 30, with the exact amounts paid to each family to be determined through further binding arbitration based on the details of their claims, he said. […]
The settlement heads off any formal lawsuits related to the families’ claims. New Jersey, like some other states, passed legislation early in the pandemic easing liability for Covid-related claims against nursing homes. That set a high bar for plaintiffs to bring such claims and few have led to payments so far, lawyers say.
Separately, the deaths at the veterans homes also triggered investigations by the New Jersey Attorney General and the U.S. Justice Department, which announced a civil-rights investigation several weeks after the Journal’s first report on the facilities. Activity continued in those investigations in recent months, people familiar with the matter said. (WSJ)
While money certainly isn’t a replacement for the lives lost, da Costa said he and his clients “are satisfied that this settlement provides a good measure of civil justice."
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