In a nursing home’s lawsuit against a former nursing home resident for unjust enrichment, an Ohio appeals court rules that although notice of the trial court’s hearing was initially sent to the wrong address for her attorney, the resident received proper notice because the court placed the hearing on its docket. Gibsonburg Health, LLC v. Miniet (Ohio Ct. App., 6th Dist., No. S-14-023, May 15, 2015).
Elena Miniet moved to a nursing home in 2008. In August 2012, she lost her Medicaid benefits and did not pay the nursing home from October 2012 through November 2013, when she was discharged. The nursing home sued Ms. Miniet for unjust enrichment and breach of contract, among other things. Ms. Miniet filed a motion to dismiss. The trial court denied the motion, and set a hearing date on the court docket. Because the court did not have the right address for Ms. Miniet’s attorney, her attorney did not receive notice of the hearing until six days before it was scheduled.
At the hearing, the trial court found in favor of the nursing home, ruling that Ms. Miniet had been unjustly enriched and ordering her to pay $13,837 in damages. Ms. Miniet appealed, arguing she did not receive due process because her attorney did not receive proper notice of the hearing.
The Ohio Court of Appeals affirms, holding that Ms. Miniet received “adequate notice to satisfy [her] right to due process under the facts of this case” because “date of the hearing had been on the court’s docket for over a month before [Ms. Miniet’s] counsel received actual notice.”
For the full text of this decision, go to: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/6/2015/2015-Ohio-1863.pdf
