Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question “What constitutes nursing home negligence?”
Having a loved one who has a disability can be hard to deal with. You want to make sure that they are properly cared for and that no one ever tries to take advantage of them. According to a study by National Public Radio (NPR), those individuals with intellectual disabilities are seven times more likely to be sexually assaulted than an individual without a disability. No one wishes for their family member to be sexually assaulted, especially not a disabled family member. For one Washington state family, however, this fear has become a reality.
Maryanne Stallone is a 57-year-old autistic woman who has lived at the Rainer School in Buckley, Washington for over 40 years. She is non-verbal and relies on using sign language to communicate with other individuals, according to The News Tribune. While living at the Rainer School, Maryanne was sexually assaulted. A staff member walked in on another staff member assaulting the resident. The staff member committing the assault was then arrested. After the arrest, another resident of the Rainer School, who was verbal, came forward and reported that she also was assaulted by the employee.
Stallone requires 24-hour assistance. Her family decided that living at the Rainer School was the best option for her to receive the care and attention she needed. After learning of the assault committed on Stallone, the family filed suit against the Rainer School for negligence. The family alleges that the staff at the Rainer School were undereducated, undertrained, and under-supervised when it came to dealing with residents with disabilities and sexual assault reporting training. The family alleges that the Rainer School failed to properly train or inform Stallone on how to report a sexual assault.
Before the assault prompting this lawsuit, there was potential evidence of other sexual assaults. In 2008, Stallone began pointing to her private region, which was a sign of assault. Bruises were also discovered on her inner thighs, but a doctor declared that there was no assault. As a result of this issue, in 2009 Stallone received sex education on how to sign words relating to her body. The Rainer School alleges that she did not respond well to this and therefore they discontinued the lessons.
This is not the first instance of abuse to be reported at the Rainer School. There have been numerous incidents reported of staff members verbally abusing residents, locking up personal items, and other forms of assault. The family of Maryanne Stallone hopes to be able to bring the Rainer School to justice for their alleged negligence in caring for their loved one.
The family brought a negligence lawsuit against the school for failing to provide education to Stallone on how to report sexual assault. Abuse against anyone is unacceptable, but abuse against those who do not have the tools or ability to defend themselves is heinous. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC can help you in the event of abuse against a loved one. Contact us today to find out what options are available to help you bring those who are negligent in caring for a loved one to justice. Now taking cases throughout the Charlotte region with offices in Uptown Charlotte, Mooresville and the new location under renovation in Monroe. Contact us, for a free consultation, call us at 704-370-2828 or click here for additional resources.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/08/570224090/the-sexual-assault-epidemic-no-one-talks-about
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article151154857.html
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https://www.freeimages.com/photo/push-to-open-1445176
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