In September 2005, the Los Angeles District Office of the EEOC and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund brought this lawsuit against healthcare providers Royal Wood Care Center LLC, Fountain View Subacute and Nursing Center LLC, Fountain View Inc., Skilled Healthcare LLC (doing business as Royalwood Care Center), Fountain View Holdings Inc., Fountain View Management Inc., Fountain View Subacute Nursing Center Inc., Fountain View Therapy Services Inc., The Royalwood Convalescent Hospital Inc., Skilled Healthcare Group Inc., Summit Care Corporation, an Summit Care Pharmacy, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging discrimination on the basis of national origin, Hispanic, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We do not have a copy of the complaint; therefore, the exact allegations are unknown. However, it appears from the judicial orders that the complainants alleged the defendants discriminated against Hispanic individuals in the compensation, terms, conditions and privileges of their employment based on their Hispanic national origin, primarily by requiring that English be spoken on the premises.

Following discovery and the defendants' filing for bankruptcy, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment attempting to limit the scope of the case to only one of its facilities and limit liability for certain entities. The court partially denied the portion of the motion regarding limiting of the scope case. The court did, however, partially grant the motion, with regards to liability for some of the entities involved.

Following the filing of a number of joint status reports, the parties reached a settlement. The three-year consent decree was entered on April 13, 2009. The agreement required defendants to pay up to $450,000 in damages (initially $180,000 to class members, with additional money distributed based on class members completing or choosing not to complete an English course provided by defendants). Additionally, defendants agreed to be enjoined from discriminating on the basis of national origin and retaliating; provide neutral references for claimants; adopt policies to prevent discrimination; implement training about discrimination; provide information about diversity in the workplace; and comply with record keeping and reporting requirements to demonstrate adherence to the decree. There was no further litigation throughout the period of the consent decree and the case is presumably closed.

David Friedman - 05/27/2008
Rachel Barr - 01/05/2018


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