The Dickson Firm, L.L.C. represents nursing home residents and their families in cases against the owners and the operators of nursing homes throughout the State of Ohio.
This article was written by Ohio nursing home attorney, Blake Dickson.
Steve Piskor, Esther Piskor's son, came to The Dickson Firm seeking representation. He had been turned away by multiple law firms. His mother had been physically abused in a nursing home, and he had video recordings of the abuse. Despite that, multiple law firms had turned Mr. Pisker away.
The problem was that his case was against a nursing home that qualified as a political subdivision, and as a result, there were caps on the amounts that could ultimately be recovered from that nursing home.
Ohio has caps on non-economic damages. Whether you are pursuing an auto accident case or a medical claim, there are limits on the amounts you can recover in non-economic damages. These are damages other than lost wages or medical bills. These are damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of society.
These damages are capped. In tort cases like auto cases, they are also capped in medical claims like claims against nursing homes. There are separate caps for claims against political subdivisions.
The other firms that Steve Pisker had contacted were intimidated by these caps and declined to represent him. The Dickson Firm took on his case. As a result of what happened to his mother, an aide and a nurse went to prison. Multiple aides and nurses lost their jobs, and The Dickson Firm was ultimately able to resolve Mr. Pisker's case.
Steve Pisker then went on to work with the legislatures in the state of Ohio to pass Esther's Law, which makes it legal to put a camera in your loved one's room in a nursing home. Steve Pisker had concealed a camera in his mother's room simply because he wanted to find out who was leaving her window open. She liked to keep her room very warm, and the staff would leave her windows open when she was not in her room because they were uncomfortably hot. When she returned to her room, she was cold. Astra Pisker was unable to talk; she was unable to express herself, and so Steve Pisker had put a camera in his mother's room to try to find out who was leaving her windows open.
The staff would cover up the first camera he put in. He asked them not to, and they continued to. He finally concealed a camera in her room. He put a note on the wipe-off board in her room and informed the staff that there was a camera in her room.
Despite that, the staff continued to abuse her.
The camera ran in real time. It recorded 168 hours of video every week. Steve Pisker was obviously not able to watch 168 hours of video every week. He would have had to spend every minute of every day watching video of his mother, so he would fast-forward the video looking for relevant information.
After hours and hours of fast-forwarding the video, he stumbled upon something he never anticipated: the staff was physically abusing his mother. They were hitting her, they were slamming her against the wall, they were slamming her into her wheelchair, and it was clear from the video that there were certain staff people of whom she was very much afraid.
Steve Piskor went to the police, and there was an investigation that led to the criminal conviction of multiple staff at the nursing home. After being rejected by multiple nursing homes, he finally found The Dickson Firm, and we were able to successfully resolve his case despite the caps, making that recovery very challenging.
We did an extensive amount of work on his case. We ran multiple focus groups. We did a thorough and deep investigation. We took multiple depositions, and we were ultimately able to prevail. We are thrilled that Esther's Law can help other residents in nursing homes.
One of the things we often think about here at The Dickson Firm is that, for every client we represent, for every family we represent, there are multiple residents out there who aren't being represented. There are multiple residents out there who have outlived their family. They don't have loved ones who live close. They don't have loved ones who visit often, and as a result, their neglect and abuse are often unaddressed. There's no one there to speak for them. There's no one there to stand up for them.
We are extremely happy every time we have a large verdict, every time we make a large settlement, and every time a law like this is passed that helps all the nursing home residents in the state of Ohio, and now residents throughout the country.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO-LAW, as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.
