Months after an elderly man died from the novel coronavirus in Will County, Illinois, the victim’s daughter is suing the Symphony of Joliet nursing home. The plaintiff, Dottie Wallace, accuses the facility of causing her father’s death due to negligence. She filed a negligence lawsuit against the nursing home on Thursday evening, June 11, at the Will County Courthouse.
Court papers showed that the victim, David Mitchell, 84, had been resident in the facility since February 2, 2019, up until his death on March 30 this year, from the coronavirus. The plaintiff believes that the Symphony of Joliet, located on 306 N. Larkin Avenue, caused Mitchell’s death through their poor practices during the pandemic.
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The suit alleges gross negligence and claims the victim’s death resulted from years of mismanagement, misallocation of resources, and understaffing. Also, repeated violations and lack of proper infection control and prevention measures contributed to the man’s death, Wallace claimed.
In a media statement, Wallace divulged that the nursing home claimed earlier that there were no cases of COVID-19 at the facility. Not until her father came down with the virus did she realize the facility never conducted tests on its residents. Wallace told the press that Symphony of Joliet failed to test Mitchell even after he developed symptoms of COVID-19.
Attorney Steve Levin, of Levin & Perconti, who is representing the plaintiff, claimed the facility had a history of cited violation of infection control practices. He believes the poor practice began long before the pandemic.
A spokeswoman for the nursing home did not immediately grant a request for comment.
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