Estate of Hazelton v. Cain

Connor Cain and Richard Smith (defendants) respectively served as licensee and administrator for Driftwood Nursing Center (Driftwood). Maggie Hazelton was a resident at Driftwood who died. Darlene Hester (plaintiff), as representative of Hazelton’s estate, sued Cain and Smith for personal injuries and wrongful death allegedly resulting from negligent care and treatment provided by other Driftwood personnel. Cain testified that he conducted almost daily walk-throughs of Driftwood’s facility and spoke regularly with either Smith or the head of the nursing staff. Cain further testified that he inquired about patients’ conditions and that no one had made Cain aware of any conditions or complaints concerning Hazelton. Smith testified that he had not directly supervised or controlled the activities of any Driftwood employees who oversaw Hazelton, that he had been the administrator of Driftwood for only a few months of Hazelton’s residency, and that he had resigned as administrator approximately two months before Hazelton died. The trial court granted summary judgment for Cain and Smith. On appeal, Hester argued that genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether Cain and Smith had a duty pursuant to Mississippi’s statutes and regulations for nursing homes and whether Cain and Smith had breached said duty because they either knew or should have known of the alleged negligence against Hazelton based on citations in certain surveys and inspections conducted by the health department and should have acted to prevent it. Cain and Smith argued that they were not liable because they had not had any direct involvement in any alleged tort.