Symphony Of Joliet Faces Coronavirus Wrongful Death Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Friday at the Will County Courthouse in connection with the April 7 coronavirus death of Joliet resident David Mitchell. The elderly Joliet man lived at the 214-bed Symphony of Joliet nursing care facility on Larkin Avenue.

The Chicago law firm of Levin & Perconti filed the lawsuit on behalf of Mitchell's daughter.

According to the plaintiff, Mitchell reported a fever, loss of appetite and difficulty breathing in late March. On March 28, despite claiming residents were kept isolated in their rooms, Symphony of Joliet served Mitchell breakfast in the communal dining room, the plaintiffs contend. That afternoon, his symptoms were severe enough to merit a STAT chest x-ray and EKG.

Two days later, Symphony of Joliet moved Mitchell to the AMITA Health St. Joseph Medical Center, where he tested positive for the new coronavirus. He died April 7 from the coronavirus, the lawsuit noted.

“The gross negligence here is truly shocking,” said Levin & Perconti partner Margaret Battersby Black. “Based on what was happening with outbreaks at facilities nationwide, Symphony had ample time to see this coming. But, instead of putting their resources towards staffing their facility adequately so that the sick and the well could be cared for separately and supplying PPE to further protect residents and staff, Symphony focused on making public statements denying the presence of COVID-19 in their facilities. We are bringing this suit to hold the Symphony’s management accountable for their multiple violations of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act.”

Natalie Bauer Luce, a spokeswoman for Symphony Care Network, responded to Joliet Patch with reaction to Friday's wrongful death lawsuit filed in Joliet.

“This lawsuit is baseless and sends a dangerous message to patients, families and health care workers still fighting COVID-19 on the frontlines," she said. "It only serves as free publicity for TV lawyers who seek to profit by taking advantage of the global pandemic, highlighting why Gov. Pritzker issued an executive order of immunity for frontline health care workers."

According to Luce, "the plaintiffs’ lawyers also ignored the facts about the heroic efforts by the medical and support staff who worked around the clock to save the lives of our patients. We mourn the loss of Mr. Mitchell and grieve with his family, but we also know Symphony implemented infectious disease prevention protocols long before the federal government’s inconsistent and delayed guidance, and at all times has exceeded the CDC guidelines. Further, Symphony retained a renowned infectious disease control expert and a distinguished gerontologist to lead a task force to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Friday's lawsuit filed by Levin & Perconti stated that Symphony of Joliet has confirmed at least 132 coronavirus cases and 25 deaths, including two staff members, and has been identified as a potential source of infection at other Symphony homes, where Joliet residents and staff were transferred in the midst of the outbreak.

In early March, nursing home staff, including at least one maintenance worker, began to show symptoms of the coronavirus, the plaintiffs say. In spite of that, caregivers at Symphony of Joliet were ordered to continue reporting to work despite their symptoms and no personal protective equipment was made available for their use, the Chicago law asserts.

Attorneys from Levin & Perconti said they are representing Mitchell’s daughter, Dottie Wallace, in her suit against Symphony of Joliet.

“Long before the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Symphony of Joliet nursing home had a history of cited violations of infection control practices,” law firm partner Steve Levin said in Friday's news release. “They’d agreed to a plan of correction and had all the resources and information necessary to ensure sufficient levels of staff to provide skilled nursing care and treatment to all residents, including David, in accordance with their care plans. But they willfully continued on with inadequate staffing and poor practices through a deadly pandemic.”