HOLYOKE — Employees of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, where a massive COVID-19 outbreak killed at least 77 veterans last spring, have sued several members of the facility’s former leadership team, alleging they were forced to care for sick and dying veterans, sometimes after testing positive themselves, in “inhumane conditions.”
The federal class-action suit filed last week says administrators at the Soldiers’ Home initially ignored Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for containing the virus, withheld protective equipment from employees, and lied to state officials about measures they were taking to protect residents and staff once the first veteran tested positive on March 15, 2020.
“The employees watched in horror as the veterans they cared for suffered horrible deaths,” the lawsuit states. “The actions of the defendants resulted in more than 80 employees becoming sickened with COVID-19, many requiring hospitalization. Some continue to experience so-called ‘long haul’ symptoms to this day.”
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is certified nursing assistant Kwesi Ablordeppey. Speaking in October before a joint oversight committee of the state Legislature that was investigating the virus outbreak at the Soldiers’ Home, Ablordeppey said that higher-ups laughed when staff asked about COVID-19 preparations, and that his manager wrote him up for wearing protective equipment.
The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Leonard Kesten, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The four defendants include former home Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director Dr. David Clinton.
An attorney for Clinton said his client denies the allegations.
Clinton is a “wonderful person” who has dedicated his life to serving veterans and cared deeply for his co-workers, John Lawler wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
“He denies all allegations of wrongdoing, and the evidence that will be presented in this case and the other cases will establish that he is not at any fault for the tragedies that unfolded at the Soldiers’ Home as a result of COVID-19,” he wrote.
An attorney for Walsh declined comment in an email to The Associated Press.
Both men have previously pleaded not guilty to criminal neglect charges. Their lawyers allege they have been used as scapegoats by the state.
The lawsuit is the second related to the COVID outbreak at the veterans home. In July 2020, the estate of a Korean War veteran who died in the outbreak filed a class action suit against Soldiers’ Home and state leaders, alleging they were responsible for the deaths of 76 veterans and the illnesses of 84 more.
At least 77 veteran residents of the home died of the respiratory disease — 76 of them in the spring of 2020 in one of the worst outbreaks at a long-term care facility in the nation. Another resident died last winter at an offsite location.
The first resident of the home known to have contracted the virus, referred to as Veteran One in the suit, was allowed to wander the facility and remain outside a recommended isolation room, the suit says.
He continued to sleep in a room with three other veterans, was allowed to mingle with other residents and was treated by employees who were provided with inadequate personal protective equipment, according to the complaint.
Employees who were symptomatic or who had tested positive for the virus were forced to continue working, according to the complaint, and were disciplined by Walsh if they called out sick, according to the lawsuit.
One nurse reported that the entire facility “smelled like death” in late March, and she would go home after her shifts were over and vomit.
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.