The son of an octogenarian has filed a lawsuit against a now-closed Odessa skilled nursing facility alleging staff there failed to protect his mother from several sexual encounters.
According to the lawsuit filed March 6 in Ector County District Court, Valerie Curb was 84 and suffering from dementia when she was admitted to Orchard Park of Permian Basin in April 2021.
On Feb. 23, 2022, Curb’s son, Steven Stafford, was informed his mother had been found alone in a room with another resident and “some touch and touch” had been going on, the lawsuit stated.
On April 20, 2022, the same man was found having sex with Stafford’s mother and on April 29, 2022, Stafford’s mother was found completely naked with the man, the lawsuit stated.
Stafford filed a complaint with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and, according to the lawsuit, agency investigators determined the facility’s staff failed to ensure Curb was free from abuse, neglect and exploitation, failed to ensure she didn’t engage in unconsented sexual activity due to cognitive impairment, failed to update her service plan and failed to report abuse/neglect upon learning the resident had been found engaging in sexual activity “without physician evaluation of resident’s cognitive ability to consent.”
The lawsuit, which was filed by the Rasansky Law Firm in Dallas, also alleges the agency determined Curb’s needs weren’t being met so she was at risk for abuse, physical and emotional injuries. Moreover, investigators determined she had been at risk of not having the incidents investigated in a timely manner.
Stafford moved his mom to another skilled nursing facility in May 2022, according to the lawsuit.
Headlee Senior Care, which owned Orchard Park, is being sued for medical negligence and corporate negligence. Stafford is seeking unspecified damages for physical pain and mental anguish, past and future medical expenses and physical impairment in the past and future.
