Definition of Abandonment Under California Elder Abuse Law
Abandonment is one of the forms of elder abuse and neglect that California Welfare and Institutions Code section 15600 prohibits.
Abandonment is defined under the law as “the desertion or willful forsaking of an elder [anyone 65 year of age or older] or dependent adult by anyone having care or custody of that person under circumstances in which a reasonable person would continue to provide care and custody.”
One well-publicized example of elder abandonment in the San Francisco Bay Area occurred at the Valley Springs Manor in Castro Valley, an assisted-living facility for sick and bedridden seniors. On October 24, 2013, all employees except for Miguel Alvarez, the facility janitor, and Maurice Rowland, the facility cook, left Valley Springs Manor after the state suspended the facility’s operating license. Mr. Alvarez and Mr. Rowland cared for 14 seniors who had been abandoned at the facility, feeding, bathing, changing and providing medication to the residents of the facility continuously until October 26, 2013, when they called 9-1-1 and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department and firefighters arrived to rescue the remaining residents.
In March 2015, the owner and the administrator of the assisted-living facility were each charged with 14 felony counts of elder abuse.
Contact An Elder Abandonment and Abuse Attorney At The Dolan Law Firm
California law protects elders, dependent adults, and developmentally disabled person from many types of abuse and neglect, including financial fraud. The law provides provides for the recovery of damages for pain and suffering, economic damages, and punitive damages when there has been recklessness, fraud and/or patient abandonment.
Take action and contact us without delay. The Dolan Law Firm is one the leading injury and elder abuse law firms in California. We represent seniors and families who loved ones were victimized by financial elder abuse. We represent clients from San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, the entire Bay Area and across California. Please click here to contact us or call us toll free at 1-888-452-4752.
