Suit Against Nursing Home Wrongly Tossed Before Competency Query

A man who sued his late mother’s nursing home over the care they provided may get another shot to press his claims, after the Third Circuit ruled that his case was wrongly dismissed without an inquiry into his competency.

Victor Mondelli presented the district court with “verifiable evidence” of his potential incompetency, including letters from several doctors detailing his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia and disabling depression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said Tuesday. This evidence should have prompted the district court to conduct an inquiry into his competency and his potential right to a court-appointed representative before dismissing his case for failure to prosecute, the appeals court said.

The court’s ruling interprets Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which obligates a court to appoint a guardian ad litem to protect an incompetent person who is unrepresented in a legal action. According to the Third Circuit, this rule applies even when an incompetent person is represented by counsel.

Even though a person “may have legal counsel, that person’s other interests may remain unrepresented and ‘otherwise unprotected,’” the court said. “Until a court satisfies itself that those interests are protected, it lacks authority to reach the merits of the case.”

The Third Circuit’s ruling is consistent with the views expressed in a brief filed by court-appointed amicus counsel, Michael L. Foreman with Penn State Law, Civil Rights Appellate Clinic.

Mondelli sued Berkeley Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center after his mother’s 2015 death, bringing a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act and one for intentional infliction of emotional distress. During the litigation, Mondelli failed to produce required discovery responses, missed several deadline extensions, and obtained an administrative pause in the case due to his mental and physical health conditions. The district court ultimately dismissed the case based on Mondelli’s failure to prosecute, concluding that he was responsible for the failure and that he’d caused the nursing home to suffer prejudice.

The Third Circuit vacated this ruling and instructed the district court to conduct a competency inquiry before allowing the litigation to proceed.

Judge Patty Shwartz wrote the decision, which was joined by Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. and Judge Eduardo C. Robreno, sitting by designation from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Kenneth J. Rosellini of Clifton, N.J., represents Mondelli. Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin PC represents Berkeley Heights.

The case is Mondelli v. Berkeley Heights Nursing & Rehab. Ctr., 2021 BL 222229, 3d Cir., No. 18-2193, 6/15/21.