Can a Family Sue the Corporate Owners of an Assisted Living Facility for a Resident’s Wrongful Death?
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California families can sue the corporate owners and overseers of an assisted living facility for a resident’s wrongful death, as a Sacramento County jury’s March 2026 verdict shows. The jury awarded about $110 million to the family of Mildred Hernandez, a 100-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease who died after wandering outside her assisted living facility in near-freezing weather. It held the private equity firm and real estate investment trust behind the facility responsible, not just the operator.
Case: Hernandez, et al. v. Greenhaven Estates, Colony Capital, et al. (docket caption: Ludlow v. FC Ranger Ops Greenhaven Estates (CA) LLC, et al.)
Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento
Case No.: 34-2020-00275166-CU-PO-GDS
Who Was Mildred Hernandez?
Mildred Hernandez had lived for more than five years at Greenhaven Estates, an assisted living facility in Sacramento’s Pocket area. She had Alzheimer’s disease and, according to the complaint, was a known “elopement risk,” meaning she was prone to wandering away. On February 12, 2019, she was found unresponsive outside the building in roughly 38-degree weather and later died of hypothermia.
Her family sued in Sacramento Superior Court in February 2020. The docket lists Teresa A. Ludlow as plaintiff, individually and as Hernandez’s successor in interest. Trial counsel say the award will go to Hernandez’s four adult daughters.
Who Are the Defendants?
Greenhaven Estates was run by an operating company that the docket lists as FC Ranger Ops Greenhaven Estates (CA) LLC. The family also sued the companies above it. Court coverage describes Formation Capital, a private equity firm, as the facility’s asset manager. Colony Capital, a publicly traded real estate investment trust now known as DigitalBridge Group, is described as its beneficial owner.
The family argued that investors who profit from a care facility must answer for how it protects the people living there.
What Are the Allegations in the Complaint?
The family’s claims, as reported from the complaint and trial, include:
Hernandez was a known wandering risk who had lived at the facility for more than five years.
Her worsening wandering was not documented or reported, and an alarm system was not working, according to her trial counsel’s account of the evidence.
She left through an unsecured area of the building.
The facility had a long history of operational and safety failures that its corporate owners knew about, according to evidence described at trial.
Trial counsel said the state moved to revoke the facility’s licenses after her death over systemic care failures.
What Was the Main Question in the Case?
The jury had to decide whether the investment companies behind Greenhaven could be held responsible for neglect and wrongful death, and whether their conduct justified punitive damages. On March 3, 2026, it answered yes. Court coverage reports the jury found Formation Capital and Colony Capital liable and awarded about $110 million in total. Judge Jeffrey Galvin entered judgment. Post-verdict motions or appeals could still change the outcome.
Why Does This Case Matter to California Families?
While this case was decided in Sacramento County, families across California face similar situations. Wrongful death and elder neglect claims often turn on who controlled a facility’s staffing, safety systems, and budget. The verdict affects anyone with a parent or grandparent in assisted living or memory care.
It shows that accountability can reach past the building’s operator to the companies that own, oversee, and profit from it.
It highlights wandering risk in dementia care, where staffing, alarms, and documentation can be the difference between safety and tragedy.
It illustrates how California’s punitive damages rules work in serious neglect cases.
It tells families that a facility’s license and brochure are not the whole picture of who is responsible for a resident’s care.
FAQs: Hernandez v. Greenhaven Estates
Q: Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in California?
A: Close family members, including a surviving spouse or domestic partner and children, can usually file. In some situations, others who depended on the person for support can too. A personal representative or successor in interest may also pursue claims the person could have brought before death.
Q: How long do families have to file?
A: In most cases, wrongful death and personal injury claims should be filed within two years of the death or injury. Claims against government-run facilities can have much shorter deadlines, so families should act quickly and work with an experienced wrongful death attorney.
Q: What damages can a family recover?
A: Wrongful death damages compensate family members for their own losses, such as the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, and support, along with funeral and burial costs. A separate survival claim covers losses the person suffered before dying.
Q: How is elder abuse different from an ordinary wrongful death claim?
A: California’s elder abuse law adds enhanced remedies, such as attorney’s fees, when there is clear and convincing evidence of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice. That is a higher standard of proof than most civil cases.
Q: Can owners and investors be held responsible for a facility’s neglect?
A: Sometimes. It depends on the facts, such as how much control the company had over staffing, budgets, and safety, and on the legal theory used. In this case, a jury found two such companies liable.
Q: When are punitive damages allowed in California?
A: A plaintiff must prove oppression, fraud, or malice by clear and convincing evidence. When the defendant is a corporation, the conduct must involve an officer, director, or managing agent.
Did a Loved One Suffer Preventable Harm in Care?
Cases like Hernandez show how California law can hold powerful companies accountable for preventable deaths. If you have questions about wrongful death or neglect, please contact Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Knowledgeable wrongful death and employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in Riverside, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
