In the May 30, 2014 Kongtcheu v. Secaucus Healthcare Center decision, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey denied the defendant nursing home’s motion to dismiss a claim against it brought by nursing home resident Philbert F. Kongtcheu.

In Kongtcheu, the pro se nursing home resident brought a variety of claims against the nursing home, including that his room and the facilities were unsuitable, that his roommate’s medical issues disturbed him, that he was given the wrong medications, that his personal property was damaged or stolen, that his personal information was not properly protected, that his mail was tampered with, and that retaliatory discharge proceedings were initiated against him. Acknowledging that the pro se nursing home resident’s pleadings were entitled to be liberally construed, the district court interpreted the pleadings to assert HIPAA violations, a violation of the regulations applicable to Medicare/Medicaid facilities, and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other claims.

The district court found that the defendant’s motion to dismiss had not addressed each of those claims, resulting in an undeveloped record. In addition, although the defendant facility had claimed that the admission agreement provided for mandatory arbitration, the court found that it had failed to raise this issue until its reply brief.

The resulting denial of the facility’s motion to dismiss was an administrative dismissal, without prejudice to the facility’s right to re-file its application, keeping alive the nursing home resident’s claims.

A copy of Kongtcheu v. Secaucus Healthcare Center an be found here – Kongtcheu v. Secaucus Healthcare Center

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