PHILADELPHIA – A panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a lower federal court’s dismissal of a negligence and wrongful action brought against Berks County and related health care entities, which charged they were responsible for the death of the plaintiff’s mother.
According to a March 18 ruling from Third Circuit judges Thomas L. Ambro, David J. Porter and Jane R. Roth, the federal appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Robert Schlaybach against Berks County, Berks Heim Nursing & Rehabilitation, and Terrance J. Brennan (collectively, BHNR). Roth authored the Court’s opinion in this matter.
In April 2017, Robert’s mother, Katherine Schlaybach, was admitted to BHNR, a nursing facility operated by Berks County and administered by Brennan. Katherine suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and ambulatory dysfunction, and as a result, required assistance to stand and walk.
In June 2017, Katherine became increasingly restless and attempted to stand from her wheelchair without assistance. Robert provides no details about the earlier attempts but alleged that attempts on July 3 and 5 were noted in BHNR’s records.
On July 6, 2017, Katherine again attempted to stand, fell, and broke her hip. BHNR staff observed her overnight but did not seek further medical attention until she was taken to a hospital at 10 a.m. the next morning. Three days later, she died.
Robert brought the instant action in the Berks County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of himself and Katherine’s estate, where BHNR then removed it to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
In the suit, Robert alleged violations of Katherine’s rights under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act, claiming that BHNR failed to properly train its employees, while also alleging state negligence and wrongful death claims.
However, the District Court dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim, holding that BHNR is a municipal entity immune from state tort liability under Pennsylvania’s Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, and that Robert failed to allege facts showing that BHNR had a policy or practice of inadequately training its employees, as required to establish municipal liability under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 and Monell v. Department of Social Services of New York.
Robert appealed the lower federal court’s decision to the Third Circuit.
Nonetheless, Roth stated that Robert had “not pleaded facts supporting a policy or custom with respect to Katherine’s post-fall care” and not alleged that BHNR has a history of providing inadequate care to residents after they fall or was otherwise indifferent to their post-fall medical needs.
“Robert has also failed to show that BHNR deliberately disregarded residents’ FNHRA rights in relation to Katherine’s pre-fall care. Robert alleges that Katherine’s injuries were caused by BHNR’s custom of failing to train its staff to install monitoring devices or properly supervise immobile residents who have a risk of falling without such safety measures,” Roth said.
“These allegations are not, however, supported by evidence of any past pattern of failure to provide fall prevention training to BHNR employees. To establish a pattern, he relies solely on BHNR staff’s care of Katherine on July 3 through 6. Such a showing may be relevant to a tort law claim against BHNR personnel but is inadequate to demonstrate supervisor liability under Monell. For this reason, Robert’s Monell claims fail. We will affirm the District Court’s order, dismissing Robert’s complaint.”
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit case 20-1218
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 5:19-cv-03044
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com