MORGANTOWN – The family of a Morgantown man who died earlier this year is suing the nursing home where he lived for prematurely saying he died of COVID-19.
Gregory Wolfe, as administrator of the estate of Leonard K. Wolfe, filed his complaint in Monongalia Circuit Court against Monongalia Home Corporation doing business as Sundale Nursing Home.
According to the complaint, Leonard Wolfe was a resident at Sundale on March 25 when the home released false information to government entities and on social media saying he had died of COVID-19.
However, he still was alive.
The complaint says family members believed he had died of COVID-19, and members of the public were told he had died of the disease as well.
Wolfe was diagnosed with COVID-19. He did die April 3 – more than a week after the nursing home had first reported his death.
Sundale was home to one of the first major outbreaks of the Coronavirus in the state back in March. At one point early in the pandemic, there were more than 50 active cases among residents and staff members.
Wolfe’s estate says Sundale had a duty to ensure Wolfe’s medical information was protected and not disclosed to members of the public or unauthorized sources. The family says the nursing home failed to do that and is guilty of negligence, reckless infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
“The plaintiff administrator has suffered severe emotional trauma/distress, and some members of the family have required medical care,” the complaint states. “Other members of the estate were also traumatized by the false disclosure of their father’s death, which caused severe emotional turmoil and anguish.”
The estate calls the actions of the nursing home “a highly offensive intrusion into the private life of Leonard K. Wolfe.”
The plaintiff and the members of the estate seek compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The plaintiff is being represented by Robert V. Berthold Jr. and Robert V. Berthold III of Berthold Law Firm in Charleston.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number 20-C-231