CAMDEN, Maine — A Camden retirement home has paid $6,300 to a 93-year-old woman as compensation for her being evicted from her apartment while she was in the hospital nearly two years ago.
The lawsuit filed in early December by Gabrielle Simonson against Camden Hills Villa Inc. was dismissed Wednesday in Knox County Superior Court.
Simonson’s attorney Christopher MacLean said Friday that the home paid his client $6,300 to settle the lawsuit. This amount consisted of $5,000 agreed to in an earlier settlement, plus interest, court costs, and attorney’s fees.
According to the lawsuit, Camden Hills Villa agreed in March to pay $5,000 as compensation for its actions against Simonson in return for dismissal of an earlier lawsuit filed in December 2013, but that the payment was never made.
Camden Hills Villa agent Joseph Goudreau said Friday that he does not understand why a story was published last month, saying the matter had previously been settled. He offered no other comments.
Simonson was a resident of Camden Hills Villa when she was hospitalized at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport in February 2013. While she was in the hospital, she and hospital staff were notified that she would not be allowed to return to her apartment, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed Camden Hills Villa did not return the woman’s $2,000 security deposit nor $100 put into the woman’s account at the retirement inn for her benefit. In Camden Hills Villa’s response to the original lawsuit, representatives of the retirement home denied the allegations and said she caused damage to the room, which is why the security deposit was not returned.
Simonson is now at an assisted living facility in Camden.