Video Shows Nursing Home Staff Abusing 89-Year-Old Wheelchair-Bound Patient

The family of an elderly Lebanese man in Michigan is suing a Livonia nursing home after a hidden camera captured footage of employees at the facility yelling at and roughly throwing the elderly man onto his bed and wheelchair. Some caretakers also reportedly directed ethnic slurs toward the man, reports said Wednesday.

Hussein Younes, 89, was being cared at Autumnwood of Livonia in 2015 after a bowel obstruction surgery until his son Salim Younes, 51, spotted several bruises and cuts to his head and legs and evident weight loss.

"They blamed his injuries on him falling 11 times over a five-month period," said Jonathan Marko, Younes' attorney, adding that evidence suggested it was "not an isolated incident."

"One woman praised Donald Trump... and his efforts to deport Arab Americans, referring to how they were 'taking over Dearborn' as she abused Mr. Younes," Marko stated. He added that the actions of the staff might have been racially motivated.

The 89-year-old was an immigrant from Lebanon. His family removed him from the facility in December 2015. The company that runs the nursing home said the responsible caretakers captured in the footage had been fired. However, the management was not made aware of the video until May 2016. The lawsuit alleged that caretakers cursed and hurled ethnic slurs at the elderly man.

"I raised concerns with Autumnwood many times and they assured me everything will be taken care of. Then, when my dad’s situation worsened... I told him we have to have proof," Salim said. "We agreed on putting a hidden camera in (an) alarm clock next to his bed. After a couple of days... I discovered unspeakable horrors."

The video in question has been making rounds on the internet and was viewed more than 40,000 times at the time of publishing this story.

(The video provided in the link might be disturbing to some. Viewer discretion is advised.)

The lawsuit also alleged Younes was denied water, had his "call button" taken away from him, violently shaken by his head and had his legs run into the wall while being transported on his wheelchair.

Younes' attorney said the company, which runs the nursing home unsuccessfully sought to prevent the video footage from being released.

"They don't want people to know. They went in court and argued this should be kept secret," Marko said.

He added the family gathered 119 clips from the hidden camera in the time span of two days that documented neglectful behavior.

The company reportedly conducted an internal investigation and reported the allegations to several governmental agencies. However, the company was "unable to substantiate the allegations with the information we had at the time," attorneys for Autumnwood said.

"Although the Younes family had in their possession in December 2015 a video that provided information related to the allegations of abuse, the existence of the video itself was not disclosed to my client until May of 2016, when the video was sent to my client along with a demand for payment of monetary damages," Autumnwood attorneys added.

"The actions depicted in the video are in no way illustrative of the quality care that is provided by the caring staff at Autumnwood on a daily basis," Autumnwood's attorneys said.