Texas Jury Awards $160 Million in Nursing Home Assault Case
The Estate of Tranquilino Mendoza sued Summit Care Corporation on a negligence theory for the injuries sustained by Mr. Mendoza when he was assaulted and battered by a mentally ill patient of the nursing home where Mr. Mendoza was living who was placed in the room with Mr. Mendoza. His roommate beat Mr. Mendoza with a water pitcher, a glass and his fists two days after being moved into the room where Mendoza was living. Mr. Mendoza died from unrelated causes three years after the 1997 assault and batter. He was 81-years-old at the time of the assault. Plaintiffs asserted that Defendant knew or should have known of the risks associated with putting the assailant in the same room with Mr. Mendoza because the assailant had been involved in 30 assaults before he was paired with Mendoza.
Summit Care claimed that Mr. Mendoza’s injuries from the assault and battery were not significant and that he recovered quickly from the injuries.
The verdict is one of the largest ever for nursing home abuse.