Can You Report Elder Abuse Anonymously?

The environment is different in civil court than from criminal court, mostly because the burden of proof is lower. If you anonymously report elder abuse to a New York nursing home abuse lawyer, that information usually holds up in court. As a result, victims obtain justice and are compensated and elder abusers change their tune. This compensation includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Usually, the facility owner is financially responsible for damages. The extra costs and unwanted publicity almost always prompt changes that protect people.

Kinds of Abuse

Elder abuse is an intentional injury. Usually, the bad actor intends the conduct, but not the result. Over 90 percent of long-term care facilities are severely understaffed. If one person must do two or three or more jobs, there’s only so much that person can take. This frustration is expressed in several ways:

• Physical Abuse: Most nursing home residents are physically frail. As a result, a small amount of physical force, like a push or bump, usually causes severe injuries. Additionally, these victims normally have pre-existing health conditions, like arthritis.
• Emotional Abuse: Many nursing home residents are also emotionally frail. You’d probably be frail as well if you were suddenly uprooted from your home and placed in a strange environment. So, inappropriate comments like “no one loves you” could do much more damage than a push or bump.
• Financial Abuse: This form of abuse could be individual or institutional. Some unscrupulous individuals see financial abuse, normally stealing money or coercing signatures on legal documents, as supplemental pay. Institutions often try to supplement their incomes by filing fraudulent guardianship papers to gain full control of a resident’s money.

Nursing home neglect, which is an unintentional injury, is different. Slip-and-fall hazards are a good example. Employees who don’t clean wet spots on floors don’t intend for anyone to fall and certainly don’t intend for them to get injured.

Responsibility Issues

Usually, individuals are legally responsible for elder abuse. Organizations are typically financially responsible for damages in these cases.

Common individual responsibility doctrines include battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Battery is a harmful or offensive touch, such as the aforementioned push or shove. IIED is intentionally or recklessly engaging in extreme and outrageous conduct that proximately caused severe emotional distress (“no one loves you” remarks).

In each instance, a New York nursing home abuse lawyer must establish facts by a preponderance of the evidence, as mentioned above. So, a little evidence, even the victim’s own testimony, goes a long way.

The nursing home owner is financially responsible for damage in most cases, usually under a theory like negligent hiring or negligent supervision.

Negligent hiring, which is related to understaffing, is hiring an incompetent person to do a job. Managers at many long-term care facilities are so desperate for staff that they don’t ask too many questions during the interview process. Negligent supervision is failing to watch employees or, when misconduct complaints arise, sweeping these matters under the rug instead of dealing with them.

Your Claim for Damages

An anonymous tip of elder abuse could be the start of a claim for damages. The victim’s story could start this claim as well. If a friend or loved one says s/he’s been abused, always take that claim at face value and ask a New York nursing home abuse lawyer to investigate it.

If that claim is valid, attorneys usually negotiate directly with nursing home owners and give them a chance to make things right. If they refuse to do so, the matter proceeds to court. We should mention that these court cases are extremely complex. Usually, an out-of-state holding company legally owns the nursing home in question.

A professional mediator, whom the judge appoints, helps the two sides work through these complexities and agree on a settlement. 

An out-of-court settlement is usually a much better option than an emotional courtroom showdown, especially in elder abuse cases. Settlements enable everyone to move on with their lives faster and easier than if the matter went to trial.

If you suspect elder or nursing home abuse, report it. For a free consultation with an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer in New York, contact Napoli Shkolnik.