DALLAS, Pa. — A Visiting Angels caregiver died in her client’s Luzerne County home this summer and nobody with her agency knew for days, all while her 99-year-old charge slowly died, according to a lawsuit.
Now, the stepchildren of that 99-year-old woman, Evelyn Snowdon, filed a lawsuit against Visiting Angels seeking damages as recompense for their stepmother’s suffering.
Visiting Angels said in a statement they’ve cared for the region’s elderly for 16 years and their hearts are with those who suffered Snowdon’s death. They declined to speak further because the case is in litigation.
Meanwhile, attorney Jonathan Comitz, who filed the lawsuit, said it presented one of the worst set of facts he has seen in two decades of practicing law.
According to the complaint, Visiting Angels assigned a new caregiver to Snowdon in June last year. Her name was Jamika Moore, a 41-year-old woman.
The complaint states that Moore died in Snowdon’s home on July 26. Snowdon was there too.
By the time Snowdon’s stepdaughter visited on August 6th, Snowdon was already dead. It had been more than a week since someone last saw them alive.
On Thursday, almost six months later, Snowdon’s family filed a lawsuit alleging against Visiting Angels and others on 16 counts, including wrongful death.
The lawsuit raised accusations of negligence because, had policies been followed, Moore’s death would have been discovered and could have tempered the danger facing Snowdon.
Logically, if Moore fell out of contact with work, there arose a risk that Snowdon might be alone and in danger. Despite that, no one checked on either of them.
The suit seeks $50,000 in damages on each count.