Sava as a Single Employer
The Montrose Press reported that the national for-profit nursing home chain SavaSeniorCare has demanded to be dismissed from a lawsuit. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the chain. In 2020, the EEOC sued SSC Montrose San Juan Operating Company, SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services and SavaSenior Care LLC as a single employer. This is not the first time this chain has had legal issues. Of course, they deny discriminating against employees.
The EEOC alleges all three are legally responsible for failing to respond properly after knowledge of sexual harassment and discrimination at their facilities. The victims are both employees and residents. Groping, sexually inappropriate behaviors, and sexual assaults are common place. SavaSeniorCare argues that it is part of caring for residents with dementia. However, it is not just residents with dementia.
The EEOC complaint states that SavaSeniorCare refuses to remedy the dangerous conduct. Instead the management company trained the employees to take the behavior as a compliment and “be nice” to the residents who were sexual predators. The suit also says the company violated the law when it fired employees in retaliation for trying to report abuse. According to the complaint, she was shut down, ordered out of the building, suspended without pay and terminated that same month.
In filings since the initial suit, all three entities denied the allegations, while SavaSeniorCare filed for dismissal. The entities dispute the contention that they constitute a single employer despite significant evidence to the contrary. It is all a corporate shell game to divert taxpayer funds, hide assets, and avoid responsibility for short-staffing the facilities.
