By ZOË WATKINS
zwatkins@bedfordcountypost.com
Carriage House Inn is located on Colloredo Boulevard in Shelbyville.
On March 8, families of three former residents of Shelbyville’s assisted care living facility, Carriage House Inn, filed lawsuits against the facility and its owners alleging corporate negligence resulting in abuse, neglect, and injury, and – in one case – death.
According to statements provided by Nashville-based Johnson Law Group, all three of the lawsuits allege the facility required the families to sign admission documents that included “forced arbitration” agreements. These agreements aim to prevent future claims from being decided by a jury of Bedford County citizens, therefore, limiting the facility’s legal liability.
“The preventable injuries in these cases should never have occurred,” said attorney Russell Lewis with the Johnson Law Group.
“The bottom line is that families have a right to expect that their loved ones in an assisted care living facility will be safe and treated with dignity and respect. When incidents and injuries occur, families have a right to know about them, and to know the truth about what happened.”
Tennessee Department of Health identifies the Assisted Care Living Facility as holding license number 00000260 and being owned by Carriage House Inn Properties and managed by Senior Solutions Management Group, both out of Suwanee, Ga. Senior Solutions is like a “parent company.”
According to their website, Senior Solutions Management Group has 36 communities across eight states.
However, filings with the Tennessee Secretary of State show that the legal status of Carriage House Inn Properties, LLC, has been “Inactive – Dissolved” since August 11, 2021, while Senior Solutions Management Group, LLC, has been “Inactive – Revoked” also since August 11, 2021.
How were they still in operation?
Lewis said it’s a great question they’re going to try to get an answer to.
“Beyond that, it is unfortunate and ironic that the corporate defendants, all while their corporate status was inactive, ensured that families signed forced arbitration documents attempting to shield them from being judged and held to account by Bedford County juries, protecting profits by limiting their financial accountability, and shifting responsibility to residents and their families. They did less than the law required and sought more protection than the law provided,” Lewis wrote in an email to The Post.
Two of the lawsuits…
Kathryn Enloe, as next-kin-of kin and on behalf of the estate and wrongful death beneficiaries of Thomas Chesley Enloe, deceased, vs. Carriage House Inn Properties, LLC, Senior Solutions Management Group, LLC, Carriage House Inn of Shelbyville, LLC, The Heart Remembers, Inc., Chris Sides, and Cody A. Prestwood, Bedford County Circuit Court No. 14240
And…
Carol M. Williams, as next-kin-of kin and on behalf of the estate and wrongful death beneficiaries of Douglas Madison Williams, deceased, vs. Carriage House Inn Properties, LLC, Senior Solutions Management Group, LLC, Carriage House Inn of Shelbyville, LLC, The Heart Remembers, Inc., Chris Sides, and Cody A. Prestwood, Bedford County Circuit Court No. 14239
…Were filed on behalf of residents who were allegedly abused by a former licensed practical nurse at the facility, Cody Prestwood, who was charged with abusing multiple residents in incidents from December of 2021 to August of 2022.
Prestwood plead guilty to two counts of Attempted Neglect of an Elderly Person on April 4, 2023. According to Lewis, the families in those cases allege that at no point in time did anyone from the facility inform them of the abuse, investigation, or charges, express remorse, or offer any measure of accountability.
He said Enloe’s family said they didn’t hear anything about this until after Prestwood’s prosecution had ended.
The third lawsuit…
Tiffany Lane Bobo, as next-kin-of kin and on behalf of the estate and wrongful death beneficiaries of Maye W. Lankford, deceased, vs. Carriage House Inn Properties, LLC, Senior Solutions Management Group, LLC, Carriage House Inn of Shelbyville, LLC, The Heart Remembers, Inc., and Chris Sides, Bedford County Circuit Court No. 14238
…Claims that a resident was alleged to have fallen out of her recliner in the middle of the night resulting in injuries including hematoma to left forehead, hematoma to left eye, laceration to forehead above left eye, left orbital fracture, fracture of left arm, sprain of right arm, and fracture of base of spine, which caused her death.
The lawsuit alleges that the facility has not provided the family with any investigative findings. “They’ve gotten no information from the corporation about what they found and that’s what was also troubling to Mr. Enloe and Mr. William’s families,” Lewis said.
“What I think this case ultimately will show is you have these corporate defendant that are basically building a big business throughout the southeast primarily. But I think what you’re going to find is the business was the priority and not finding the care,” he told The Post via phone on March 13.
Lewis said each of the families wants to see the corporate defendants held accountable by a Bedford County jury.
“I’ve done this for nearly 20 years. I think this is a case where you’re going to see these parent companies set up a system where the management wasn’t in place locally and you had bad things happening as a result.”
For the next phase, Lewis anticipates the response to the lawsuits will be motions to dismiss the cases, to compel arbitration, and to enforce those agreements that say you can’t file a lawsuit.
The Post has reached out to representatives from Senior Solutions Management Group but has yet to hear back for comment.
