California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Tuesday that six former employees of the Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility in Ukiah have been arrested for allegedly covering dementia patients with slippery ointment as part of a “cruel and shocking” prank.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 26-year-old Jenny Bido, 30-year-old Christina Guerrero, 29-year-old Jared Buckley, 3-year-old Jennifer Burton, 23-year-old Kathleen Phillips, and 51-year-old Monica Smith face criminal elder abuse charges and have been fired by the nursing home. A statement from Brown’s office said they coated seven dementia patients “from head to foot” as part of a gag to make them slippery for the next shift of caregivers.
“These caregivers abused defenseless elders,” Brown said. “This is despicable behavior by people placed in a position of trust.”
Dan Niccum of Horizon West Healthcare, said the incident occurred in November 2009 and the nursing home reported it to state authorities. He told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that four of the employees had applied the ointment and the other two did not report the abuse.
“We do not condone this type of behavior,” said Niccum. “The moment we found out we took the most severe action possible, including firing the employees and reporting the abuse to the state.”
Each of the six former employees is charged with one misdemeanor count of causing injury to an elder or dependent adult, battery committed on an elder or a dependent adult, conspiracy, and battery committed while on hospital property.
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing injury victims since 1976, and have special expertise in cases involving nursing home abuse. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
