Another lawsuit filed against Brighton Rehab and Wellness in connection with covid-19 outbreak

The family of a Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center employee who died from covid-19 after they said he contracted the illness at work filed a wrongful death suit against the owners on Thursday.

Kevin Carroll, 54, worked as part of the housing and laundry staff at the facility in Brighton Township, Beaver County. He died on June 25, 2020.

The lawsuit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court by his wife, April Carroll, of East Liverpool, Ohio, also includes claims for intentional misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligence.

Defendants include Brighton Rehab’s ownership group, Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services, as well as officials in the company, including Samuel Halper, Ephram Lahasky and Brian Edward Mejia, who worked for Healthcare Services Group, which also is named as a defendant.

Messages left with Brighton Rehab’s attorneys were not immediately returned on Friday.

At its peak, the lawsuit said, the Brighton Rehab outbreak accounted for 65% of all Covid-19 cases in Beaver County and 90% of all covid-19 deaths there.

“The Brighton (Rehab) outbreak remains one of the worst and most lethal Covid-19 nursing home outbreaks in the United States,” the complaint said.

At least 368 residents and 108 staff members contracted the virus, the lawsuit said. At least 80 people died.

The outbreak prompted a variety of investigations. In February 2021, the Tribune-Review confirmed that a federal grand jury was investigating Brighton and its corporate ownership. In September 2020, the FBI served search warrants at Brighton Rehab and Mount Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, which shares some of the same owners.

The warrants were served in collaboration with the Health and Human Services division of the Office of Inspector General, the criminal investigation unit of the IRS and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

No results from those investigations have yet been released.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office said she could not comment.

Brighton Rehab, which was originally owned and operated by Beaver County as “Friendship Ridge,” was purchased by Comprehensive Healthcare Management in March 2014 for $37.5 million. Comprehensive is the corporate umbrella that formed to purchase Brighton Rehab and dozens of other nursing homes across the state and nationwide.

The lawsuit alleges that Brighton Rehab was underfunded and understaffed and has been subject to repeated citations by the Pennsylvania Department of Health over the past eight years.

“The sheer number of these sanctions reflected defendants’ systemic failure and outright refusal to protect staff, workers and residents from the uncontrolled spread of infectious disease throughout the facility,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint highlights unsanitary conditions in the facility, the lack of Personal Protective Equipment for staff members and the absence of infection-control practices when the covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

The lawsuit alleges that Brighton Rehab officials failed to isolate contaminated wings of the facility, permitting staff to move freely throughout, allowing the virus to spread unabated.

According to the complaint, Carroll and other staff did not receive proper PPE, including N95 masks, to protect them from exposure.

He first exhibited symptoms of covid-19 at work on April 14, 2020, when he had a high temperature at the end of his shift.

The lawsuit said he was not given a covid-19 test.

Carroll stayed home for two days but returned to work on April 17 without being given a test. That same day, he reported feeling dizzy during his shift. He then tested positive for covid-19.

Carroll was hospitalized on April 21 and remained so until May 30. He was readmitted to the hospital on June 5 after a relapse of covid symptoms. He was intubated.

Although Carroll was able to come off intubation, the lawsuit said, his body was severely damaged and he was moved into hospice care where he died.

Carroll’s family joins dozens of other employees’ and residents who have filed suit against Brighton Rehab and Comprehensive Healthcare in both state and federal court in connection with the covid-19 outbreak.