Margaret Battersby Black appears on Fox & Friends with her client Joan Biedel, whose mother is the subject of a nursing home abuse case that has gotten national attention.
Nursing home resident Margaret Collins, a 91 year old woman with dementia, was the subject of repeated harassment from two nursing home employees. The upsetting viral video has caused a backlash of anger against elder abuse and an outpouring of support for Margaret Collins and her family.
This piece was originally published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on August 1, 2019.
By Margaret Battersby Black and Michael F. Bonamarte IV
Levin & Perconti is representing the family of a 91-year-old woman after two of her care aides, formerly employed by Abington of Glenview Nursing Home in Glenview, violated the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and state privacy laws through abuse and the use of social media. The workers, Brayan Cortez and Jamie Montesa, were caught publishing a Snapchat video of themselves taunting Margaret Collins, an elderly resident with dementia. Snapchat is a multimedia app and popular social media channel used by over 180 million people every day. Each post made is called a “snap.”
The video went public just days before the Christmas holiday in 2018 and showed Collins lying in bed and visibly upset from being taunted by employees throwing a hospital gown at her several times, a clothing item her family says Abington workers knew would make her distressed. The video was captioned with “Margaret hates gowns,” and the “snap” was decorated with two laughing face emojis. A former employee saw the video and shared it with the resident’s family.
On July 18, 2017, a record-setting $4.1M award was won by Levin & Perconti’s legal team of Margaret P. Battersby Black, Steven M. Levin, Susan L. Novosad, Daniel A. Goldfaden and sole practitioner Michael W. Rathsack on behalf of the estate of Dolores Trendel. On June 28, 2019, Justice James Fitzgerald Smith wrote in an unpublished order allowing the estate to recover the cost of litigation from the negligent nursing home at the center of the case – Clare Oaks.
The Nursing Home Care Act requires licensed senior care facilities to pay “the actual damages and costs and attorney’s fees to a faculty resident whose rights … are violated.”
Attorney and Partner at Levin & Perconti, Margaret P. Battersby Black recently appeared in Leading Lawyers Magazine where she led the article by sharing her legal philosophy: to ensure her clients’ wrongs are righted. She continued, “I want to make sure they have a voice,” says Battersby Black, “and that those who take advantage of others are held accountable.”
Margaret grew up in Michigan, alongside family members who ignited her legal career. She says her father, Michael Battersby, also a personal injury attorney, inspired her as he “was always fighting for the underdogs” and his work left an impression on her. She went on to earn her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and her law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Levin & Perconti Represents Injured and Evicted World War II Veteran in Neglect Suit
World War II veteran Charles Banas flew two heroic bombing missions in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. The 96-year-old family man had plans to attend the 75th anniversary of the historic event with a trip to England and France to participate in commemorating ceremonies this year. Unfortunately, Banas was not present due to the negligence of an Evanston senior living home, Westminster Place. Banas had previously been residing at Westminster for more than 15 years and also received nursing and rehabilitation care at its McGaw Care Center.
Pamela Dimo and Margaret P. Battersby Black of Levin & Perconti are representing a woman suing an assisted living facility alleging that an elderly resident was caused to fall and subsequently die due to negligence. The estate of Sarah Robinson filed the complaint on March 29 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Parkshore Estates Nursing and Rehabilitation Center LLC dba Parkshore Estates Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, infinity Healthcare Management of Illinois LLC, Paulette Alexander RN, Thomeka Brown, Juanita Davis LPN and Aishia Shipp LPN, Abigail Sullivan RD, Tijuana Haywood RN and Rachael Nnabuo RN.
According to the complaint:
Founder and Senior Partner of Levin & Perconti, Steve Levin, partner Mike Bonamarte and firm associate, Daisy Ayllon, have all been invited to present the upcoming Strafford live webinar, “Deposing Nursing Home Employees and Owners in Neglect and Abuse Cases,” scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT, 12:00pm-1:30pm CST. Strafford provides attorneys with the information and training they need to advance their career and remain at the top of their fields.
Webinar participants will be taught the specific techniques behind building successful depositions. Levin & Perconti panelists will discuss best practices for:
Congratulations to Levin & Perconti’s five partners and eight associates selected to the 2019 Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. These honors are reserved for those legal professionals who exhibit excellence in practice. While up to five percent of the lawyers in Illinois are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.
With a very special thank you to all of our blog readers and those within our online sharing communities, we are excited to announce that Levin & Perconti’s Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog has won 1st place in the Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury category by The Expert Institute’s 2018 Best Legal Blog Contest, one of the largest blog competitions of its kind. Levin & Perconti’s Medical Malpractice blog was also a 1st place winner in 2017 making this a consecutive winning year for our online content to shine amongst the best. In 2019, we look forward to providing additional legal suggestions and will continue to build a resource of newsworthy information about the struggles of long-term care communities right here in Illinois but also across the U.S.
The Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog has helped many nursing home abuse and neglect victims, as well as their family members and even facility care staff, navigate through a confusing system of legalities. Some of our most shared posts also include a synopsis of successful litigation journeys for our clients, including:
Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog