The American Seniors Housing Association and Hanson Bridgett just came out with an “Industry Brief” on the settlement of a class action lawsuit called Heredia v. Sunrise Senior Living. The settlement was approved on December 3, but the lawsuit had been winding its way through the courts since 2017. Apparently, for these kinds of staffing lawsuits this is the longest time period recorded.
The basis of the class action lawsuit was allegations of understaffing, with staffing levels unrelated to the care needs of residents, as well as allegations that representations by owners/operators to residents and prospective residents that sufficient staffing was in place were misleading. While we have no idea as to the actual merits of the case, the settlement will apply to an estimated 3,500 residents in 45 Sunrise communities in California.
One of the problems we have is the makeup of the $18.2 million settlement. About 60% of the dollar amount will go to attorneys’ fees, and another $2 million, or 11%, to litigation expenses and costs. Therefore, more than 70% of the settlement amount will do nothing for the residents, and, will do nothing to make sure that staffing levels are adequate in the future.
The 3,500 members of the class action will receive a total of $5.17 million. While that may be a lot of money for Sunrise, the individual members will receive a paltry $1,477 each. That was higher than the $904 per member in a staffing class action against Aegis Living, $725 against Oakmont Senior Living, $500 against Emeritus Senior Living and $291 against Atria Senior Living. But give us a break, would you be happy to receive that paltry amount? Perhaps the Sunrise per member amount was the highest because it took the longest to settle (more than seven years), with the others lasting less than four years each on average.
So, who wins in class action lawsuits? The attorneys, of course.
