NEW ORLEANS — After hearing dueling legal arguments from high-powered local plaintiffs’ attorneys, a Jefferson Parish judge ruled Monday in favor of a class-action settlement against nursing home owner Bob Dean stemming from his ill-fated evacuation of 843 of his patients during Hurricane Ida.
Judge Michael Mentz approved the settlement that would divvy up Dean’s insurance coverage – about $15 million – with 22.5 percent of that covering legal fees for Couhig Partners, LLC, the law firm that pushed for the quick resolution.
Early estimates peg the amount going to individual plaintiffs at less than $10,000 each, although the amounts will be higher or lower depending on hardships suffered by each patient.
Several patients died and others had to be hospitalized after they were rescued by state officials from Dean’s warehouse in Tangipahoa. WWL-TV was the first to report on the unsanitary conditions at the shelter, including lack of food, water and bathroom facilities.
The settlement agreement was far from unanimous, with other attorneys led by well-known accident attorney Morris Bart objecting, saying the agreement lets Dean personally off the hook. However, Couhig Partners, LLC, which negotiated the settlement said time is of the essence for the aging plaintiffs.
Don Massey, of the Couhig firm, applauded the judge’s ruling to go forward with the settlement.
“We’re pleased that the judge took into account the important facts of our clients’ age and how much they suffered already and the need to give folks some closure,” Massey said after the hearing. “We’re pleased that the judge recognized the obvious, that Mr. Dean no longer has any assets, he’s under criminal prosecution, he’s under a guardianship.”
But other attorneys with lawsuits believe that Dean has not fully disclosed all of his assets, which had included everything from an antique car collection to several houses across the country.
Well-known New Orleans accident attorney Morris Bart, who represents more than 100 plaintiffs, was among those who unsuccessfully argued to spend more time investigating Dean’s assets.
“This class-action settlement is very unfair,” Bart said outside of the courthouse. “We have fought for our clients and despite the judge’s ruling today, we are going to continue to fight for our clients to get them the compensation they deserve for this horrible travesty that they have been through.”
Bart said his firm will appeal Mentz’s ruling.
“We will 100 percent appeal this,” he said. “This judgment allows Bob Dean to walk away without paying one dollar for his actions. Not one dollar for what he did. We think that’s unfair. We presented evidence that Bob Dean is worth $15 to $20 million dollars and right now today continues to live as a king in his estate in Georgia.”
Mentz acknowledged the different positions taken by the attorneys, but said that after hearings last week, he was not convinced that Dean’s assets exceeded the amount of his debts.
“Every day that the settlement is delayed, the amount of debt against Mr. Dean continues to grow,” Mentz said in his ruling from the bench. “And every day, more plaintiffs die.”
In the end, Mentz said he was faced with a “lose, lose, lose situation” in which Dean has lost his nursing home empire while his patients and their families suffered greatly during the storm and, as a result of Dean’s crumbling fortunes, “they lost the ability to be fully compensated.”
Dean, who lives in Georgia, still faces felony criminal charges in Louisiana, including cruelty to the infirm and Medicaid fraud.
