I found my 95 year old mother subjected to a bedbug infested house. I have called the Local Sheriff department to report the theft. The Caregiver not only left my Mom in a bedbug infested house, but she broke HIPPA laws. The Caregiver was sought through a Elder Care business who charged her $22,000 and paid the Caregiver. I have not heard back from the Sheriff's department and would like to know how I can file a lawsuit against the business who sent the Caregiver. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
Who is legally responsible for your mom?
1. Presumably there was a contract executed which provided certain services, including professional care, and establishing certain levels of compensation. $22K is an exorbitantly ridiculous amount though, even if the contract was for a longer period of time. And on that level, what period of time did this cover? What services were specified? Was the full $22K actually paid up front?
And, very importantly, who signed this contract?
I suspect there are likely some breach of contract provisions and actual breaches, so you might have a contractual foundation for a suit.
2. The bedbug infestation is horrifying, but you'll have to have more detail on whether it existed before this caregiver began providing "services". If the caregiver was aware of it, however, and did nothing, then look to the contract to see if this kind of catastrophic clause is included and if there are provisions for notifications.
3. $7500 over a 10 month period is $750 per month, which might or might not be reasonable depending on what level of services were subject to contractual provisions. Was this a 24/7 care situation? If so, $750 a month is low. More details need to be fleshed out on this aspect.
4. Your profile states that you're caring for someone in AL. How does this relate to the home in which your mother lived, or did this caregiving take place in the AL facility? If the latter, was the AL aware of the bedbugs? Was the whole place infested? Again, more detail is needed.
5. WHO signed the caregiver contract? Was it you? Was anyone monitoring care for your mother? How long had the bedbug and $750/month situation been in existence before you found out about it?
6. How specifically were HIPAA laws broken? To which unauthorized entity was privileged information supplied?
7. Was the $7500 part of the total $22K? Or was it out and out theft? If so, what documentation/proof do you have?
There are a lot of egregious issues in this situation, but it would help if you could supply more detail. If you want to sue the agency for fraud or contractual breach, that's a transactional law issue. If you want to sue for alleged theft of the $7500, that's a criminal issue to be handled by the police.
More information would really help.
Some quick thoughts:
1. Are you proxy under your mother's POA or DPOA? If so, I'd close out the account from which the caregiver's husband was writing checks and notify the bank of the fraud.
2. Put fraud alerts on your mother's credit reports. If you need phone numbers and info on how to do this, just post back.
3. Where are the caregiver and her husband now? Have they skipped town, or do you have a local address for them?
4. I'm glad your mother is in AL now; she'll be much safer. If you have any photo IDs of the caregiver and her husband, I would share them with the AL staff and find out how to keep them from being admitted, should they decide to try to continue their scam.
5. Talk to the Sheriff or local PD about getting a restraining order against the couple.
6. Since your mother has dementia, do make sure to verify everything she's said. That's not to suggest she's not truthful, but just to ensure that the situation is as she says it was. The stress of living in a bedbug filled house for months could easily heighten her level of confusion. However, the checks would be proof of the embezzlement and copies can be provided to law enforcement.
7. What does the agency say about all this? Although if it charged exorbitantly for the contracted work, it should have done background checks. I have a feeling this couple isn't new to this line of "work".