Lawsuit: Nursing home resident subjected to abuse, humiliation

Shocking video has sparked patient abuse accusations at a local nursing home. The troubling claims come from the family of an elderly man.

The video, according to attorneys for the alleged victim, is both disgusting and shocking, and shows the abuse and humiliation of a man who survived a stroke, put on Facebook for others to see.

In a five second video recorded this summer, a 76-year-old man identified as "Reggie Doe" is seen surrounded by staff from his nursing home, Holland Home, in South Holland.

“You can hear someone say 'Reggie, take off your pants,’” said Margaret Battersby of Black/Levin & Perconti.

His face is not seen for privacy purposes, but he's holding his adult diaper after being coerced by at least six staffers, allegations laid out in a lawsuit filed in Cook County Tuesday.

“We've seen almost every kind of abuse and neglect that can go on in a nursing home. this kind of raises the bar,” Battersby said.

In more than 150 pages, lawyers outline what they say are violations of the man's privacy and other accusations that staffers inflicted emotional distress, did not provide proper supervision and made his dementia worse.

“What happened after this? How many times did it happen before this? How many times did it happen where it wasn't videoed?” Battersby said.

The facility made news back in 2015 when the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled the death of a patient, Dorothy Byrd, a homicide. An autopsy revealed she died from heart disease and "morphine and hydrocodone toxicity."

In Reggie Doe's case, his attorneys say they believe it could happen again.

“I don't think this is the last time, unfortunately. it's going to happen, given what our culture is with social media,” Battersby said.

Nursing home administrators have not returned FOX 32’s messages.

Reggie Doe's family has since moved him to another nursing home, making the change as soon as they saw the video. His attorneys are asking for damages to be determined by a jury.