Top Plaintiffs' Verdicts by Dollar: Boice v. Emeritus Corp.

At a time when an increasing number of people live out their old age in assisted living homes, the case involving the mistreatment of 82-year-old Joan Boice struck a nerve.

Boice, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was a resident for three months at an assisted living facility run by Emeritus Corp. During that time, she lost 20 pounds and suffered at least four major bedsores. She died shortly after leaving the facility.

Boice's survivors sued Emeritus for wrongful death and elder abuse. A month before trial, Emeritus offered to settled for $3 million, plaintiff's attorney Lesley A. Clement said. Boice v. Emeritus Corp., 2009-00063714-CV (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed Nov. 12, 2009).

But that would have required the family signing confidentiality agreements. They refused.

The investigative documentary program "Frontline" featured the trial during a segment on abuses in assisted living facilities. The jury was sympathetic to Boice, and awarded her family $27.08 million last March, including nearly $23 million in punitive damages. The judge reduced the non-economic damages to $250,000 and the defense team is currently appealing the punitive damages.

Equally gratifying, Clement said, is that there are 12 bills currently before the state Legislature to greater regulate assisted living facilities.

The facility "had no staff. And the staff [they did have] weren't trained, they weren't supervised, and they weren't qualified," Clement said.

- EMILY GREEN

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