FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Employee Files Lawsuit against Community Options for Elder Abuse and Wrongful Termination
Barbara started with Community Options in May 2015 after passing a background check. Her main role was to be support staff, caring for clients as assigned, and to help protect the health and well-being of the clients. Barbara was assigned to care for an incapacitated client with physical and intellectual disabilities. In early 2017, the physician caring for Barbara’s client prescribed a wheelchair for the client.
Although Barbara turned the prescription into her supervisor immediately, no wheelchair was provided. She sent emails, but nothing was allegedly done. A few months later, the doctor prescribed new medications for her client. According to Barbara, her company once again failed to fill the doctor’s prescription.
In mid-October, Barbara met with the support coordinator of her client and reported the problems. Following that meeting, Barbara received an email from her supervisor that said, “Don’t talk about her wheelchair, don’t talk about anything or he said people will get fired.” The email also told Barbara that she had “said way too much . . . when aps [Adult Protective Services] came in.”
Since her employer demanded that she not inform the support coordinator of the client’s safety and care issues, Barbara resigned from her job. She believes that her employer failed to uphold the law in providing care to clients and threatened her when she spoke up about the problem. As a client of KM&A, Barbara is pursuing her employee rights. KM&A represents employees who blow the whistle on illegal employer activity.
Full text of this complaint, as filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is available at docket no: 2:18-cv-01586-GAM
Kraemer, Manes & Associates LLC is an employment law firm with principal offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, serving all counties in Pennsylvania, focusing on employment law, business law, litigation, and civil issues. KM&A clients include employees, small businesses, parties in litigation, and people with a variety of legal issues.
For more information about this case, contact Attorney Sean Ruppert at (412) 626-5550 or at sr@lawkm.com.
NOTICE: All information contained in this statement comes from the Complaint which has been filed as a public record with the court. As dedicated civil rights attorneys, we strongly believe in the public value of telling our clients’ stories: violators can be held accountable, and other silent victims can feel empowered to stand up for their legal rights. Although we make every attempt to verify our clients’ claims, note that the defendant is expected to oppose our client’s position, and the court has not ruled one way or the other as of the date of this statement.
