New Jersey to Pay $53 Million Settlement Related to COVID-19 Deaths in Veterans Homes

The state announced the settlement Thursday in claims on behalf of 119 residents of the state veterans homes in Paramus and Menlo Park. Most of the claimants died, but a few survived.

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The cases were settled before suits were filed, but lawyers for the families of the victims claimed in Tort Claims Act notices that management of the two veterans homes were grossly negligent and incompetent in responding to the pandemic.

Staff were ordered not to wear masks or gloves, so as to avoid alarming residents, according to tort claims notices filed in the case. Management also waited more than a month after the first patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 to isolate residents who tested positive for the virus, and continued to permit residents to congregate in common areas of the building after some contracted the virus.

In addition, management at the Menlo Park facility allowed staff who were infected or presumed to be infected to continue working, prevented staff from gaining access to personal protection equipment, and recklessly endangered the safety and well-being of patients and staff by failing to promptly implement appropriate measures, such as infectious disease outbreak plans, according to tort claims notices filed on behalf of deceased residents.

The state of New Jersey will pay 60% of the award in the first quarter of 2022 and the remainder on July 30, 2022.

Attorney Paul M. da Costa told NJ.com:

“No amount of money can ever obviously replace the lives of the lost veterans, but my clients and I are satisfied that this settlement provides a good measure of civil justice and accountability,” he said, adding that the fact a settlement had been reached before any lawsuits were actually filed, avoiding avoids years of protracted litigation, was “significant to my clients being able to work towards obtaining closure.”