Jury Hits New York Nursing Home With $6.8M Verdict After Finding It Understaffed Every Single Day

Wappingers Falls, New York — A jury has ordered a 62-bed nursing home in the Hudson Valley to pay $6.8 million after finding it short-staffed every single day of a multi-year period, a verdict that hands residents and their families a new template for holding operators — and the individuals who own them — personally accountable.

The class action verdict came down in Dutchess County against Sapphire Nursing at Wappingers, with jurors awarding more than $3.2 million in compensatory damages and adding $3.6 million in punitive damages on top. Four individuals — Machla Abramczyk, Esther Farkovits, Richard Platschek and Robert Schuck — were found liable as the facility’s controlling owners, meaning their personal assets are now exposed, not just the company’s insurance.

What jurors heard

Trial evidence showed residents went unbathed, unfed and unmedicated for stretches at a time, frequently left in soiled garments and bedding so long that some developed illnesses and infections. The jury specifically found the home operated below required staffing levels every day of the class period, a finding that made the damages math straightforward.

Testimony came from family members who had pressed the facility for years. Lead plaintiff Susan Schmidt brought the case on behalf of her mother, Regina Pinkall, and other residents, telling the court she was glad justice had finally been served.

Problems at the home weren’t new. A state health department inspection stretching back to 2018 had already documented how nursing and aide shortages left patients in bed for long stretches, put to bed early, and forced to wait for incontinence care. Federal reviewers currently rate the facility one star — “much below average” — on the CMS Care Compare website.

A law built for exactly this

The case was filed in 2019 under New York’s Public Health Law § 2801-d, a statute that lets residents sue when they’re deprived of rights and benefits established under state and federal law — including the right to sufficient staffing. Plaintiff attorneys Leslie Kroeger of Cohen Milstein and a team from Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber argued that failures like these are systemic industry-wide, not one facility’s problem.

Industry observers say the verdict signals a shift: understaffing itself — not just individual incidents of neglect — can now anchor multi-million-dollar jury awards, with owners’ personal wealth on the line. With Congress and state regulators publicly weighing stricter staffing rules, as debated in the Senate’s latest push for tougher staffing and spending standards, litigation is emerging as an enforcement tool regulators can’t match. Operators who still treat staffing minimums as a suggestion may soon find juries willing to price the difference.