Nassau Family Files Lawsuit Against Adult Care Facility For Allegedly Neglecting Autistic Son

A Nassau family recently filed a lawsuit against Extraordinary People In Care (EPIC) Long Island, which provides care to adults with special needs for allegedly neglecting their autistic son.

Matthew Zauderer, a 23-year-old man with severe non-verbal autism, had been living at the Anderson Center For Autism in Albany for most of his life when his parents chose to move him to a facility closer to their Roslyn home.

Officials from the Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities had recommended a group home run by EPIC located in Levittown.

After speaking with employees from EPIC about Matthew and the care he would need, his parents, Stacey and Jonathan Zauderer, decided to move him in May 2015.

However, shortly after, Stacey claims they began to notice some "red flags," which eventually led to the lawsuit, which was filed last month.

According to Stacey, the family became concerned after discovering that Matthew had hit his head against the wall and refrigerator and were did not receive a call from the staff when he was being treated. She claims they found out when they went to visit him and saw the injuries to his head.

In addition, Stacey says another incident that concerned her occurred at a barbecue with EPIC staff, where she noticed that Matthew was given as much to eat as he wanted, despite the fact that he has a history of over-eating, food consumption, gorging and choking.

In a statement to Patch, Thomas M. Hopkins, President and CEO of EPIC Long Island said that EPIC is aware of the lawsuit and have hired legal counsel to address the accusations. He said he could not comment on specific claims because of the fact that it is an active ligation.

According to EPIC, they have addressed the accusations made by the Zauderers last year.

"Almost immediately after Mathew moved into EPIC’s residence, Mr. and Mrs. Zauderer began accusing EPIC of wrongdoing against Mathew," Hopkins said in a statement. "Thus, some of the allegations by the Zauderers are approximately a year old and EPIC is well aware of and has taken steps to address the various claims."

A few months after Matthew moved in, the Zauderers decided to hire a private investigator who they claimed discovered that the EPIC staff had lied about Matthew participating in several activities including: swimming at LA Fitness, going to the coffee shop, going bowling, going to the movies, and participating in Meals on Wheels, according to the private investigator's report. The staff would tell the family that he participated in certain activities when he did not leave the house or was left in the van, according to Stacey.

Once a staff member went shopping at Walmart, C-Town and Petco while Matthew never left the van for hours, Stacey claims.

"Activities are important for him otherwise he gets locked into his [obsessive compulsive disorder]," she said. "A lack of programming is a big problem because we are paying for the programs and if they aren't doing any activities where is the money going towards?"

The Zauderers also hired a private behavior specialist for Matthew, and they claim that the staff would cancel appointments or refuse to let the specialist in the house to observe Matthew.

After over a year of living in the facility, the couple filing a lawsuit against EPIC in June.

"This is the biggest nightmare," Stacey said. "My only goal is to get him out of there."

Matthew is still currently living in the facility. The family claims they are working on attempting to transfer him to another facility that can take care of him, she said.

"We are saddened that the Zauderer family has chosen to retain a public relations company to publicize their allegations against EPIC," the statement from Hopkins said. "We will continue to fulfill our mission and provide members of the developmentally disabled community with quality care and services."