Discovery Senior Living has been named in lawsuits ranging from a wrongful death claim over a resident’s drowning in Jacksonville, Florida, to a federal copyright infringement suit brought by a photographer, and its communities have also drawn state regulatory fines and been caught up in litigation between two real estate investment trusts over a former Holiday Retirement portfolio. The company, headquartered in Bonita Springs, Florida, is the second-largest senior housing operator in the United States, running roughly 420 communities across 40 states.1Discovery Senior Living. Discovery Senior Living Enters Management Agreements With Diversified Healthcare Trust
Wrongful Death Suit Over a Pool Drowning
The most serious lawsuit tied to a Discovery-branded community arose from the death of 93-year-old Julia Levy at Discovery Village at Deerwood in Jacksonville. On July 8, 2022, another resident found Levy at the bottom of the facility’s swimming pool. She had been in the water about 40 minutes before she was discovered. No staff member found her.2News4JAX. Family Suing Jacksonville Assisted Living Facility After 93-Year-Old Drowns in Pool
Levy had moved in about a month before she died. According to her family, the facility had assessed her as a fall risk with dizzy spells and charged an extra $800 a month for added supervision.2News4JAX. Family Suing Jacksonville Assisted Living Facility After 93-Year-Old Drowns in Pool
Her son David Levy filed a negligence suit in Duval County Circuit Court in December 2022. The complaint alleged that the facility failed to provide the supervision it had promised and that the security cameras around the pool were not working when Levy fell in.3Yahoo News. Son Files Lawsuit After Mother Drowns at Discovery Village The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office declined to bring criminal charges against any employee. The civil case ended in a joint stipulation of dismissal on May 31, 2023, reflecting a settlement whose terms were not made public.4UniCourt. David Levy vs. American Trust Senior Care LLC Et Al
Copyright Infringement Suit by a Photographer
In April 2024, photographer Scott Hargis sued Discovery Senior Living Holdings LLC and its subsidiary Morada Senior Living LLC for copyright infringement. The case, Hargis v. Discovery Senior Living Holdings LLC, No. 3:24-cv-00831, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and assigned to Judge A. Joe Fish.5PACER Monitor. Hargis v. Discovery Senior Living Holdings LLC Et Al
The parties went to an alternative dispute resolution session in September 2024 and settled. A joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice was filed on October 17, 2024. The settlement terms were not disclosed.5PACER Monitor. Hargis v. Discovery Senior Living Holdings LLC Et Al
Fallout From the Holiday Retirement Portfolio
Discovery was not a party to the underlying suit, but its operations were reshaped by it. In December 2021, National Health Investors (NHI) sued Welltower in the Delaware Court of Chancery over 26 legacy Holiday Retirement communities leased from NHI. NHI alleged Welltower owed more than $14 million in unpaid rent.6Senior Housing News. NHI, Welltower Reach Agreement in Suit Over Legacy Holiday Portfolio
The REITs settled in early 2022. Welltower paid roughly $6.9 million into escrow, and NHI kept an $8.8 million security deposit toward the outstanding rent. NHI then moved 17 of the Holiday properties to new operators. Discovery took over nine independent living communities through an expanded joint venture with NHI, plus one Holiday assisted living community in Florida under an existing lease.7McKnight’s Senior Living. NHI Moves Holiday Properties in Welltower Lawsuit to Merrill Gardens, Discovery
The handoff went badly. NHI later said the former Holiday portfolio had gone through “several years of under investment” and “three manager changes in a year.” Occupancy in the Discovery joint venture fell to 75.2% by the first quarter of 2023 before beginning to recover. In August 2025, NHI terminated its triple-net master lease with Discovery on six of the properties and moved their operations to Sinceri Senior Living, saying it expected to collect the outstanding deferral balance owed by Discovery as part of the termination.8McKnight’s Senior Living. NHI Execs Credit Exceptional Senior Housing Portfolio Growth for Strong Second Quarter
Florida Regulatory Fines and Inspection Findings
State inspection records from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration show a running record of deficiencies and penalties at Discovery-branded assisted living facilities. Discovery Village at Melbourne, owned by HCP DSL Melbourne FL OPCO LLC since June 2019, has been hit with multiple fines: $5,000 in April 2020, $7,500 and $4,308 in May 2019, and $4,500 in June 2013, along with smaller penalties for survey and reporting violations. A $500 fine was imposed most recently in February 2025.9Florida Health Finder. Discovery Village at Melbourne Provider Profile
Inspections at the Melbourne facility in August and September 2019 documented specific problems. Four residents in the memory care unit identified as high-risk for elopement lacked identification with their name or the facility’s contact information. Staff lacked documentation of food handling training, and the Director of Culinary did not meet annual certification requirements. One resident was admitted even though a health assessment stated the facility could not meet that person’s needs. In another incident, caregivers moved a resident in a way that aggravated a prior fall injury because they were unaware of the resident’s fall history. Residents said they had not been notified of the June 2019 change in ownership, and dining complaints raised at resident meetings were left unaddressed.10Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Legal Issues at Discovery Village at Melbourne
Discovery Village at Deerwood, the Jacksonville facility where Julia Levy drowned, has also been inspected regularly. Deficiencies were cited during a standard inspection in September 2025 and during complaint inspections in mid-2022, while several other inspections in recent years found no deficiencies or recorded that prior findings had been corrected.11Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Discovery Village at Deerwood Inspection Results
Employee and Family Complaints
Alongside the court filings and state citations, Discovery has drawn complaints from employees and residents’ families that have not become lawsuits. Employee reviews of the company’s Tampa-area operations have described dining staff who lacked CPR and Heimlich training, nurses not present in dining rooms during meals, high turnover, and expectations of extra work without extra pay. In a July 2024 response to one such review, Discovery Senior Living acknowledged “critical” concerns about “team member training, resident care, and overall workplace environment.”
Families have raised understaffing, slow emergency response, and a sense that services promised on admission did not match what was delivered. During a management transition at a Bonita Springs facility previously run by Brookdale, families urged caution about staffing and care quality while saying they hoped Discovery would improve conditions.