The Kosieradzki-Smith Law Firm, representing an elderly rape victim, has reached a $10 million dollar settlement in a civil lawsuit stemming from a rape in a Minnesota assisted living facility.
In January 2014, Andrew Merzwski was found guilty of raping an 89-year old patient at Edgewood Vista, an assisted living facility in Hermantown, MN. Merzwski, an employee of Edgewood Vista, confessed to entering the woman’s room at night, drugging her, and then violently raping her in her bed.
Merzwski has since been sentenced to a 53-month prison term.
But remarkably, the judgment entered against Merzwski will not require him to pay the $10 million unless he reoffends or otherwise breaks the terms of the settlement.
According to the Duluth News Tribune, this unorthodox agreement is meant to send a message: “This is a clarion call to other wrongdoers, that you will not get away with this kind of abuse of vulnerable adults without paying a serious price,” says Mark Kosieradzki an attorney representing the elderly victim.
Kosieradzki states that this sort of agreement is almost unheard of in the legal world. But money has never been the goal of this case. “The whole idea is that he’s going to be freed from prison, and the victim and her family felt strongly that they wanted to make a statement and make sure that he doesn’t do this ever again. That was the only purpose of this lawsuit.”
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
