A Merrill Gardens lawsuit search turns up four matters worth knowing about: a federal racial discrimination case at the company’s Fort Wayne, Indiana facility that settled in 2005 for $750,000; a wrongful death suit still pending in Florida over a memory care resident’s 2020 death; a Washington State disability discrimination complaint filed in 2020 over independent living admissions; and a California wage-and-hour class action filed in 2024. The 2005 settlement remains the largest and most consequential.
The $750,000 Race Discrimination Settlement
The case began in June 2004, when a group of plaintiffs led by William Hill filed a class action alleging that Merrill Gardens’ Georgetowne Place facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana had a secret policy of flagging African-American job applications to keep Black candidates from being hired, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.1Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Hill v. Merrill Gardens LLC The EEOC filed its own enforcement action in January 2005, and the two cases were consolidated.2CourtListener. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Merrill Gardens LLC
According to the EEOC, the facility had refused to hire non-Caucasian applicants for at least nine years. Supervisors allegedly told subordinates to use Post-it notes to identify minority applicants and to mark their applications with a “Z” in the bottom left corner to flag them for rejection. The agency said the company justified the practice by citing supposed resident preferences for white employees. The EEOC also charged Merrill Gardens with failing to maintain employment records required by federal law.3Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. EEOC Press Release on Merrill Gardens Settlement
What Merrill Gardens Paid
On October 4, 2005, the court approved a consent decree resolving both cases. Merrill Gardens agreed to pay $750,000 in total: $324,000 to the named plaintiffs, $325,000 for a class of unknown claimants (non-white applicants who applied between February 1998 and April 2005 and were denied jobs that may have gone to non-minority candidates), and $100,000 in attorneys’ fees. A separate $10,000 penalty went to the U.S. Treasury for the record-keeping failures.4Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. EEOC v. Merrill Gardens LLC5Cornell University eCommons. EEOC v. Merrill Gardens LLC, Consent Decree
What Merrill Gardens Had to Change
The decree also imposed a 42-month compliance period at the Fort Wayne facility. Merrill Gardens had to post nondiscrimination notices, provide equal employment opportunity training to all employees and managers, keep standardized applicant tracking logs, document its reasons for rejecting or hiring candidates, and submit annual reports to the EEOC that included training records, hiring data broken down by race, and original applicant logs. The court kept jurisdiction to monitor compliance, and the litigation formally closed in 2009.5Cornell University eCommons. EEOC v. Merrill Gardens LLC, Consent Decree
The Florida Wrongful Death Case
Dana D. Jones sued the owners, operators, and managers of Truewood by Merrill in Bradenton, Florida in 2022 after his mother, Doscina C. Pendleton, died there. Pendleton, a terminally ill memory care resident on hospice care, was found unresponsive on December 25, 2020. A medical technician discovered her with her knees on the floor and her head lodged between her mattress and a bed rail. An expert witness later opined that this position caused a cervical spine fracture that contributed to her death.6McKnight’s Senior Living. Punitive Damages Cannot Be Added to Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Senior Living Provider, Court Rules
Jones alleged the facility was chronically understaffed, had failed to replace a broken bed with unsafe rails despite having a hospice-provided replacement available, and had not updated Pendleton’s care plan to address her fall risks. He asked to amend his complaint to add punitive damages against the corporate defendants.
The trial court denied that request, and on December 3, 2025, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirmed. Judge Morris Silberman found there was “no reliable or credible evidence” of general understaffing on the night Pendleton died, noting that two employees were on duty for roughly fifteen residents and had checked on residents at intervals of less than two hours. The court also ruled that although one employee testified about complaining to the memory care director about the broken bed, that director was a midlevel employee whose knowledge could not be attributed to corporate leadership. Without evidence that a “managing agent” of the company knew about the dangerous conditions, the record fell “far short of the strict burden” Florida law requires for punitive damages.7FindLaw. Jones v. MG Bradenton Subtenant LLC8Florida Courts. Jones v. MG Bradenton Subtenant LLC, Opinion
The appellate ruling addressed only punitive damages. The underlying wrongful death and negligence claims remained pending as of the December 2025 decision.7FindLaw. Jones v. MG Bradenton Subtenant LLC
The Washington Disability Discrimination Complaint
In December 2020, the Washington State Human Rights Commission sued Merrill Gardens L.L.C. and Merrill Gardens at Burien, LLC in King County Superior Court on behalf of Edna Burke and her daughter, Barbara Burke-Glascock. The complaint alleged that the Burien facility required prospective independent living residents to provide medical health statements and undergo nursing assessments as a condition of residency. When Burke refused, Merrill Gardens allegedly denied her a unit.
The Commission argued that conduct violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination as a discriminatory refusal to rent, discriminatory terms and conditions, and discriminatory inquiries. It sought injunctive relief, damages, and a $10,000 civil penalty.9Washington State Attorney General. Washington State Human Rights Commission v. Merrill Gardens LLC, Complaint
The California Wage-and-Hour Class Action
Jacob Chavoya, a former hourly employee, filed a class action against Merrill Gardens LLC in the Eastern District of California in 2024. The complaint pleads nine causes of action under California labor law, including failure to pay minimum and overtime wages, failure to provide required meal and rest periods, failure to timely pay final wages upon termination, failure to furnish accurate wage statements, failure to reimburse employee expenses, and unfair business practices. Merrill Gardens estimated the potential amount in controversy at roughly $16.2 million, based on an estimated class of about 3,850 employees who worked a combined 203,836 workweeks during the relevant period.10CaseMine. Chavoya v. Merrill Gardens LLC
Chavoya filed a separate action under California’s Private Attorneys General Act in Fresno County Superior Court. In February 2026, that court issued a tentative ruling granting Merrill Gardens’ motion to stay the PAGA case while arbitration of Chavoya’s individual PAGA claims proceeds, finding that the question of his standing as a PAGA representative is itself subject to arbitration.11Fresno County Superior Court. Chavoya v. Merrill Gardens LLC, Tentative Ruling