Disabulletin:Civil or Not: The Court Case of Talevski v. Marion and the Debate over a Private Right to Sue Part I:A Pre-game Summary of the case

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Marion County Corporation of Health and Human services faces a lawsuit from the family of an Indiana nursing home resident, now deceased, who allege his civil rights were violated.

A lawsuit filed by the family of nursing home resident Giorgi Talevski reaches its climax as oral arguments are slated to come before the U.S. Supreme Court on November 8.

The lawsuit filed against the Marion County Corporation of Health and Human Services contends that Valparaiso Care, a nursing home run by HHC, violated Section 1983 of the U.S. Code and the Fair Nursing Home Act by, “chemically restraining” Talevski with powerful and unnecessary psychotropic medications, which resulted in the patient’s “physical and cognitive decline and by transferring Talevski to another nursing home illegally” (WRTV, Oct 19).

The question at hand is whether a private citizen can file a federal civil rights claim for violation of a law regarding federal funding of benefit programs. The court case could eliminate the right for private citizens to sue state or federal governments who withhold benefits including Medicaid.

HHC has said it has nothing to do with the care Talevski received but rather that when people who are part of benefit programs under federal legislation are denied access to those programs, they have no right to sue in federal court, rather such enforcement should be left to the state statutes.

The HHC board allegedly has chosen to pursue the court case Talevski v. Marion HHC without a vote amongst its board. Morgan Daly of the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council asked for each member of the Marion County HHC’s board to be fined and award her attorney fees. Daly hopes that such fines will be an incentive for board members to hold a vote for whether to continue pursuit of the Talevski case.

As the day of oral arguments draws closer, WFHB’s Disabulletin will discuss the history of court cases involving Section 1983 of the U.S. Code starting next week. In the coming weeks, we will feature commentary from experts at the IU Mauer School of Law, advocates at the Arc of Indiana and more.