DeKalb County panel approves $375K in tentative lawsuit settlements involving county nursing home

SYCAMORE – DeKalb County officials are moving forward in working out tentative lawsuit settlements involving two DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center patients tallying a combined $375,000, records show.

The DeKalb County executive committee voted 8-0 earlier this month to approve a $200,000 settlement with relatives of Sharon Simpson, who was a resident at the facility. According to DeKalb County court records, Simpson’s family in 2016 sued the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center and DeKalb County for negligence. The lawsuit claims county nursing home staff did not properly transfer Simpson from her wheelchair to her bed using a Hoyer lift.

“Staff members of the facility dropped Simpson, causing decreased mobility and two spinal fractures,” court documents allege.

County officials previously requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the defendant failed to prove “willful and wanton” negligence on the county’s end.

Executive Committee members also voted, 8-0, on Feb. 9 to approve a $175,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by lawyers of Roland Dailey. DeKalb County Board Vice-Chairwoman Suzanne Willis was absent from the meeting.

According to court documents, Dailey fell while living at the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center more than four years ago, “resulting in injuries including but not limited to a left femur fracture.”

The 2018 lawsuit alleges that nursing home officials knew or should have known Dailey “was a high risk for falls.”

The county argued in court filings that under Illinois law county employees at the nursing home were immune from liability from falls. It also claimed Dailey’s lawyers failed to prove willful and wanton negligence on the county’s part and requested the court to dismiss the case.

Both cases remain open and are due back in court in April, according to DeKalb County court records.