Another lawsuit is filed for victims of the Bristol nursing home explosion
The lawsuit, on behalf of Joseph Juhas, Sr. and MaryAnn Schnepp, alleges the nursing home continued to supply cigarettes and lighters to residents when a gas leak was suspected.
Another lawsuit has been filed on behalf of victims of the explosion at a Bucks County nursing home just before Christmas that left three dead and about 20 people injured.
The plaintiffs, Joseph Juhas Sr. and MaryAnn Schnepp, were residents of Bristol Health and Rehab Center when an explosion just after 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 23 ripped through the main building and caused an intense fire. The spouses of the victims also are named as plaintiffs.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, names as the defendants PECO Energy Company and its parent company, Exelon Energy, and Bristol Health and Rehab Center LLC, and its parent company, Saber Healthcare Group. The former operators of the nursing home also are named as defendants.
“Joe and Maryann suffered serious life-changing injuries because of the negligence of the defendants,” said Brian Fritz, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs. “We plan on holding all of them responsible for their lack of action in dealing with the well-documented gas leak and conditions that led to this tragic event.”
On Monday, a lawsuit was filed alleging negligence in the nursing home explosion.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation — including by the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates pipeline accidents.
On the day of the explosion, Peco crews responded to reports of a gas odor. Some residents, The Inquirer later reported, had been smelling gas in the 174-bed facility in the days leading up to the explosion, but none were told to evacuate.
The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home defendants “proceeded as business as usual in the face of a natural gas leak, which presented a clear and obvious threat to the safety and well-being” of the residents.
The nursing home defendants “recklessly and with callous disregard continued to supply cigarettes and lighters to the residents during the scheduled smoking sessions throughout the day while they knew or should have known that such activity could cause any gas manifestation from the gas leak to explode,” the lawsuit alleges.
In an interview with the Inquirer, Susie Gubitosi, 71, a resident who is blind and uses a wheelchair, said that just after 2 p.m. that day, she returned inside the building after joining several other residents on the patio for a cigarette break. Gubitosi said she was waiting inside for a staffer to help her with a task when the explosion occurred.
According to the lawsuit, MaryAnn Schnepp suffered traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleeding, laceration to her scalp requiring staples, a collapsed lung, and broken bones, including broken ribs.
Joseph Juhas Sr. also suffered traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleeding, and bone fractures, according to the lawsuit.
Zach Shamberg, chief of government affairs for Saber Healthcare Group, said in an email: “We continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
A spokesperson for Peco said in an email: “We are a party to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. We are fully cooperating with the NTSB and according to the NTSB rules, we are not permitted to comment on this matter.”
The age and condition of the gas line running to the nursing home remain unclear, but Peco has said that it has about 742 miles of substandard gas lines across the state that need to be replaced — accounting for roughly 5% of its gas service, but 82% of leaks, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
The company’s plans, the Inquirer previously reported, call for all those lines to be replaced by 2035.