A federal jury awarded two families $15 million in damages for the deaths of two residents of a Billings long-term care facility in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The jury ruled that Canyon Creek Memory Care and its corporate parent, Koelsch Senior Communities, were liable for the deaths of Mary Simons and Robert Petersen through neglect.
Canyon Creek must pay each family $132,000, while Koelsch is responsible for paying just over $7 million to each family, according to the family’s attorneys. The award included punitive damages.
In addition, the jury decided that Canyon Creek Memory Care was not dishonest about its Covid outbreak with the family of a third victim, Elizabeth Guilford.
The families of the three residents sued the facility in 2022, alleging that Koelsch Senior Communities, which is based in Olympia, Washington, failed to properly staff Canyon Creek, leading to neglect in resident care and poor living conditions.
Seventeen people died of Covid-19 during the outbreak there.
Billings-based attorney John Heenan is representing the families of the three victims. U.S. District Judge Susan Watters is presiding.
The jury deliberated nearly 10 hours, beginning Wednesday night and extending into Thursday morning, before reaching its verdict.
Lawyers for Koelsch provided a statement:
"We appreciate the jury's careful consideration throughout the trial. We are reviewing the verdict with counsel and evaluating our next steps. Our commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care to the residents and families we serve remains unchanged,” the statement read.
For Dean Simons, the verdict marked the end of a legal fight that stretched nearly six years.
"I was glad to be able to tell somebody how they treated Marianne and especially all the residents there that needed help," Simons told MTN in a video call Thursday evening.
His wife, Mary Ann Simons, lived at Canyon Creek for two years before she died in 2020. Simons testified during the trial that before pandemic restrictions took effect, he visited nearly every day, helping feed his wife and spending hours with her. After visitors were barred from entering the facility, he said he could only see her through a window or from outside.
"If I think about her at night sometimes when I'm sleeping, I just start crying,” he said. "When I was leaving, I always gave her a kiss, and I gave her a kiss that night I left before, and I never got to see her again."
He also testified that he believed staffing shortages affected the care residents received.
"Most people didn't get fed as good as they should have been, including Mary Ann," he said.
Simons said the worst part was knowing what she endured before she died.
"She couldn't tell anybody because she couldn't talk," he said. "Every time I talk about that ... how she must have suffered there when she couldn't tell anybody how bad, because that's just (an) open sore."
Although the damages award was larger than he expected, Simons said the money itself was never his primary concern.
"I just hope Canyon Creek takes this to heart and starts getting better care for their residents," he said. "Hopefully they take care of their patients better now, (getting) punished this bad.”
Attorney Heenan said the punitive damages reflect what the jury believed about the company's conduct, and said the verdict sends a message beyond the individual families involved.
"Punitive damages are designed to punish companies when they misbehave," Heenan said. “Not only did they vindicate these families, but they protected people in this community with their verdict."
According to Heenan, the litigation lasted nearly five years and involved extensive legal filings before reaching trial.
"The judge in our case said it's the most motions she's ever seen filed by Canyon Creek," he said.
Heenan said the families understood no verdict could replace their loved ones, but hoped the outcome would encourage changes throughout the long-term care industry.
"I think it sends the message, people are watching, and we want you to pay attention to the residents that you're being paid to care for," he said. “We're all very happy. Justice was served."
Related:
Families wait for verdict in negligence case against Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings
