Negligent Hiring

The Advocate had a good article on the lawsuit filed after video evidence showed a resident was physically, verbally, and sexually assaulted at her nursing home. Dana Verdugo sued Madison de Lafayette nursing home on behalf of her mother after she became aware of this alleged abuse. Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s
investigator informed her of a video found on a murder victim’s phone which showed her mother being abused by two women at the nursing home.

According to the lawsuit, the two identified as certified nursing assistants who “verbally assaulted, physically assaulted and terrorized” the elder Verdugo, including raising her gown and “exposing her genitalia in a manner of sexual assault.” The nursing home failed to properly screen the women before hiring them, as they were neither trained nor licensed CNAs. A routine background check would have revealed that they “were not only unqualified to be employed as CNAs but posed a serious threat to nursing home residents.”

One employee Christal Howard was charged with simple assault, cruelty to the informed, simple battery of the informed, and hate crimes back in March.
Additionally, the other employee Danielle Harris was wanted on one charge of cruelty to the informed and two counts of non-consensual disclosure of a private image. Court records from Lafayette Parish showed that Harris was charged in 2016 with child desertion and resisting an officer. Harris was indicted in
April 2023 on a charge of improper supervision of a minor by a parent. Harris has many warrants and charges, including a warrant for her arrest for failure to appear for arraignment and two theft charges in Lafayette Parish.

How the heck did they get hired!?!