ST. LOUIS — A lawsuit filed against Northview Village Nursing Home — the St. Louis facility that closed abruptly one night in December — will be delayed after the home’s owners failed to pay their attorneys.
The lawsuit was filed by a former nursing home employee who alleged that the facility violated the federal act that requires employers to notify workers ahead of major layoffs or closures.
Workers were laid off suddenly on a Friday in mid-December following a dispute among the owners over how to cover payroll. That afternoon, vans from other area nursing homes arrived to remove 174 residents to facilities across the metro region, sometimes in different counties, often without notifying residents’ family members. Two residents went missing. One was found the next day at a gas station 7 miles away, and the other was found three weeks later.
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The federal act requires 60 days’ notice ahead of mass layoffs, with some exemptions, like natural disasters or unforeseeable business circumstances. Northview attorneys argued in filings that the shutdown qualified as “unforeseeable.” They claimed that the owners had only announced that they couldn’t make payroll, not that they wanted the building shut down, and blamed employees for the closure.
Last week attorneys representing Northview in the case requested the court’s permission to withdraw because their clients were unable to pay for their services, and had requested that they withdraw as counsel.
“We have very, very poor communications, and nonpayment,” said James Morris, an attorney representing Northview, said during a hearing Thursday morning. “We’re not getting a lot of cooperation.”
Michael Iadevaia, an attorney representing the worker said Northview had only provided an address to serve further papers to, not an actual representative.
“We’re hearing stories that the owners of these entities are liquidating assets in the meantime,” Iadevaia said. His client is worried that by the time the lawsuit progresses, “there may not be anything left.”
Northview Village was owned by Mahklouf “Mark” Suissa and Chicago nursing home magnate Eric Rothner, and operated by Suissa’s company, Brentwood-based Healthcare Accounting Services. In February, another nursing home owned by the Suissa and Rothner families shut down: the 266-bed Salem Village Nursing Home in Joliet, near Chicago. And earlier this month, Suissa and the Rothner family sold their stakes in Grand Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation, a 120-bed facility on Cook Avenue in St. Louis.
Suissa and Rothner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Stephen Welby said he didn’t want Morris’ legal firm to work without pay. But Northview’s business must be represented by an attorney. He said he planned to file an order postponing the case until late June, when he would reconsider Morris’ motion to withdraw.
“If they want to hire a new lawyer, they need to do it quickly,” Welby said. “They can’t simply ignore this lawsuit, nor can they proceed without the assistance of counsel.”