(LEGAFI) -- Three nursing home employees have filed a whistleblower lawsuit against a Michigan nursing home and its parent company alleging they were fired after reporting patient neglect and abuse at the facility.

The three employees, Latasha Bryant, Wanda Mosley, and Nikenda Morton, worked as certified nursing aides at Whitehall Healthcare Center in Ann Arbor before being fired for participating in a state investigation into the discovery of maggots in a patient’s genital area last summer. The lawsuit says that one of the CNA’s was fired after filing a report that brought about the investigation, while the other two were fired after discussing the discovery of the maggots with state investigators.

According to their whistleblower lawsuit, Whitehall Healthcare Center also tried to prevent employees from contributing to the investigation by suspending them while the investigation into the maggot discovery was active, and then firing them. The lawsuit also accuses the nursing home of attempting to hide a resident’s fall and resulting injury from the resident’s family.

When the state investigation concluded in September, it found Whitehall failed to provide appropriate hygiene and catheter care to a resident whose vaginal area became infested with maggots; failed to supervise two residents in wheelchairs, both of whom were injured as a result; failed to provide a sanitary, comfortable and orderly interior; failed to adequately monitor the fluid intake and output for a patient who became dehydrated; and failed to maintain complete staff personnel files and complete required certification, license and background checks.

 

State officials have since said all the problems cited in the September inspection report have been corrected, reports AnnArbor.com.

The former CNA's are seeking relief under the Michigan Whistleblower Protections Act, are asking for a jury trial, and are seeking unspecified compensatory damages for loss of employment, mental and emotional distress, humiliation, and court and attorney fees and costs.

The defendants in the nursing home whistleblower lawsuit are Whitehall and Coastal Administration Services LLC, dba as LaVie Administrative Services, and Shoreline Management Services, dba La Vie Management Services.