Three employees were named in a lawsuit, which alleged they uploaded videos of the fight to YouTube.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, a 75-year-old woman is suing the owners of Danby House assisted-living facility, where she resides, in Winston-Salem, NC, after three employees at that facility allegedly incited her into fighting another resident.
The lawsuit, which was filed on October 14 last year, named Danby House LLC, ALG Senior LLC and three former employees, and accused the defendants of negligent hiring, supervision and retention and medical negligence. The lawsuit is seeking $25,000 in compensatory damages and an unknown amount of punitive damages.
The three former employees, ages 33, 22, and 27, are currently facing criminal charges of assaulting an individual with a disability. In that case, the individual is the same 75-year-old who filed this lawsuit.
Prosecutors in Forsyth County have accused those three individuals of encouraging the 75-year-old and a 71-year-old to fight each other. Prosecutors also said that, after executing a search warrant on one of the accused’s homes, they discovered that the fight had been captured on video and shared on YouTube. Prosecutors further claim that they also discovered video evidence of one of the accused pushing the 75-year-old into her room.
In her lawsuit the 75-year-old stated that she was choked and repeatedly hit by the 71-year-old as the employees watched on and failed to intervene. The lawsuit also stated that the employees did not notify their superiors about the incident.
Police learned about the incident when a different employee contacted them a day after a staff meeting in which the incident was discussed.
Danby House has issued a statement regarding this case and the lawsuit filed against them:
“While we traditionally do not comment on pending litigation, and have not been served with a copy of the complaint, this was an isolated incident of criminal misconduct by three former Danby House employees. Danby House does not, and has never, condoned such egregious misconduct, which is contrary to the training, policies and values of this community. At all times, Danby House has fully cooperated with law enforcement and will continue to do so.”
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has barred Danby House from admitting new residents, citing numerous patient-care deficiencies. That NCDHHS alleges that Danby House has hired employees who were not propeerly trained and that they failed to administer medications, which were prescribed by their doctors, to residents.