South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

The Eagel Tribune had an article about a criminal organization running out of a nursing home.  Visitors to Rockingham County Jail brought prescription drugs, including OxyContin and Suboxone, to the county nursing home, where they exchanged the drugs with low-security inmates who worked in the nursing home. Those inmates hid the drugs in their bodies and brought them back for distribution to the jail's general population, U.S. Attorney Kacavas said.  15 people were arrested for forging prescriptions for controlled drugs and smuggling some of those drugs into the Rockingham County Jail in Brentwood. At least four of those arrested were inmates at the county jail.  An investigation that began at the county jail broke up a drug ring yesterday that federal authorities described as a "sophisticated criminal organization."

Nicknamed "Operation Jail House Rock," the investigation was a joint endeavor between county, state and federal law enforcement agencies, Kacavas said. It began when county jail workers overheard conversations during which the drug smuggling was discussed. Through interviews with other inmates and listening in on county jail phone lines, county investigators were able to uncover how the drugs were being brought into the jail, and eventually catch those involved in the act, Rockingham County Deputy Attorney Tom Reid said yesterday.

The drugs involved were OxyContin, Oxycodone, Suboxone, Lorazepam and Ativan, all narcotics.

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I am happy to report that Moody & Warner, P.C., an employment law firm in New Mexico, specifically Whitney Warner, got a verdict in federal court against various Fundamental/THI entities last week in a wrongful discharge case. Significantly, the verdict was against multiple THI/Fundamental entities because the jury found that they operated as a “single employer.” I think this is extremely important to all of us who try to hold these parent entities accountable.

Mr. Prendergast had been treated horribly by his employer THI/Fundamental entities which includes Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings, Fundamental Clinical Consulting, Fundamental Administrative Services, THI of Baltimore, Inc. and local operators in an elaborate corporate scheme. These entities are represented by Lori Proctor. This case was about the maintenance director, Mr. Prendergast, who was fired after “corporate” decided he was too concerned for the health of the residents, and complaining about unsafe and unsanitary practices such as having to paint over mold in the bathrooms, delays in approvals for repairs, and otherwise being aware and willing to talk about how dangerous and run down this facility was.   These kind of unsafe and unsanitary practices will lead to dangerously high infection rates.  The facility has thankfully been closed down.  

The Tenth Circuit weighs four factors in considering “whether two nominally separateentities constitute an integrated enterprise or single employer: (1) interrelations of operations; (2)common management; (3) centralized control of labor relations; and (4) common ownership andfinancial control.”   Here is the Order denying Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on the "single employer" rule or "integrated entity" enterprise.

Whitney Warner is a phenomenal lawyer who put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into this case.   Although this does not represent a huge damages award, the significance of this verdict is invaluable.

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