Pacifica Senior Living Lawsuit: Neglect, Copyright, and Chapter 7

The Pacifica Senior Living lawsuit story is not one case but a cascade: a $23 million wrongful death verdict in Bakersfield, a $6.3 million copyright judgment, a $2.5 million neglect settlement in Healdsburg, a $4.25 million wage-and-hour class settlement, and a fair housing settlement, all landing on a company already cited by state regulators at nearly four times the industry rate. In March 2025, the management entity at the center of those judgments filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing up to $50 million in liabilities against just $100,000 in assets.¹

Pacifica Senior Living is a division of Pacifica Companies, a privately owned San Diego real estate and private equity firm led by Deepak Israni. At its peak, the senior living arm operated roughly 95 to 100 communities across 13 to 14 states, serving more than 10,000 residents.²

The Mosley Wrongful Death Verdict

The largest judgment came out of Kern County. Robert L. Mosley, 81, had dementia and Parkinson’s disease and lived in the memory care unit at Pacifica Senior Living Bakersfield. On July 22, 2018, he wandered out of the facility and was found on the ground behind the building in 100-degree heat, with second- to fourth-degree burns covering seven to eight percent of his body. He underwent multiple surgeries, including removal of a kneecap, and died on December 17, 2018.³

His family sued Pacifica Bakersfield, L.P. and Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC, alleging the facility failed to monitor its front exit, failed to use wander monitors on a dementia patient, and failed to provide timely emergency care. Staff initially classified his injuries as “skin tears.” In March 2022, a jury found that the defendants’ neglect was a substantial factor in Mosley’s death and found recklessness, malice, oppression, or fraud by facility leadership.⁴

The jury awarded $149,000 in economic damages, $8 million in noneconomic damages (reduced post-trial to $4.25 million), and $15 million in punitive damages. The California Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment on September 19, 2024, upholding the punitive award.⁵ With interest and fees, the family’s attorney Victor George estimates the total owed has grown to more than $30 million.⁶

The Healdsburg Neglect Case

Phyllis Johnson moved into Healdsburg Senior Living in 2021 and died 41 days later. Her five children sued for wrongful death and elder neglect, alleging the facility failed to treat a pressure ulcer, failed to administer pain medication, and failed to provide basic hygiene. A surgeon who treated Johnson after her transfer to Sutter Hospital in Santa Rosa said he observed “clear reckless neglect” and had seen other apparently neglected patients transferred from the same facility.⁷

The family settled for $2.5 million in 2024. As of early 2026, they were still seeking penalties from Pacifica for failing to pay on time.⁸

The facility’s regulatory record framed the case. Under Pacifica’s management, Healdsburg Senior Living accumulated 39 Type A citations (deficiencies posing an immediate risk to health, safety, or personal rights) and 36 Type B citations. In 2021 alone, the state substantiated 33 allegations against the facility.⁹ A joint state and federal survey that November identified two separate instances of “immediate jeopardy” to residents, one involving failure to protect female residents from a male resident’s inappropriate sexual behavior and the other described by investigators as a “complete leadership vacuum.” The facility had gone more than seven months that year without a required registered nurse director of nursing.¹⁰

On December 13, 2021, CMS fined Pacifica more than $325,000 and terminated Medicare and Medicaid funding for the 38-bed skilled nursing unit effective January 15, 2022. Families were given until mid-January to move relatives, some as far as Sacramento, Oakland, or Lake County.⁹

The $6.3 Million Copyright Judgment

The other verdict that Pacifica has publicly blamed for its bankruptcy came from a photographer, not a resident. In September 2022, Scott Hargis sued Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging the company used 43 of his copyrighted architectural photographs to market its communities without permission. Hargis said he began sending infringement notices in April 2021, but Pacifica kept using the images.¹¹

In December 2023, a jury found Pacifica willfully infringed on 42 of the 43 photographs and awarded the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per work, totaling $6.3 million. Judge Mark C. Scarsi entered the judgment.¹²

Fair Housing and Wage Claims

The National Fair Housing Alliance sued Pacifica Senior Living Santa Fe and related entities in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleging the company violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to admit prospective residents who were deaf or hard of hearing and refusing to provide communication services such as ASL interpreters. In October 2021, the parties settled for $140,000 in damages and attorney’s fees, and Pacifica agreed to develop a non-discrimination policy, update marketing materials, train staff, and update its website.¹³

Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC also agreed to a $4.25 million wage-and-hour class settlement in the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura, covering hourly employees at more than 50 Pacifica-affiliated facilities during a class period from October 2014 to March 2023.¹⁴

The Regulatory Pattern Behind the Suits

The individual cases sit inside a broader record. A healthcare impact statement filed with the California Attorney General found Pacifica’s rate of state citations for its residential care facilities ran 3.9 times higher than the industry average, and five times higher for facilities of similar size. A court-appointed monitor who reviewed two Pacifica facilities acquired in December 2022, Lake Park in Oakland and Forest Hills in Pacific Grove, documented sewage leaking into common areas, trash piling up because waste haulers went unpaid, broken locks, eliminated security guard positions, and discontinued camera monitoring.¹⁰

Former employees at multiple facilities described the company as “purely profit-driven,” citing staff reductions and cuts to enrichment activities and resident services.⁷

The Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

On March 24, 2025, Pacifica Senior Living LLC, doing business as Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. Chapter 7 is a liquidation proceeding: the company ceases operations, and a trustee sells its assets to pay creditors. The petition listed estimated liabilities of $10 million to $50 million, assets of just $100,000, and between 49 and 70 creditors.¹⁵

The Mosley family was listed as the first creditor. Scott Hargis appeared with his $6.3 million copyright judgment. Local vendors filled out the list, including a Monterey company that had sued over a $3,600 unpaid mold remediation bill.¹⁵

Adam Bandel, Managing Director of Seniors Housing at Pacifica Companies, called the bankruptcy a business decision driven by “two outrageous lawsuits that were runaway trial verdicts.” The company maintained that the bankrupt entity had not owned any facilities, had not directly provided patient care, and had not housed residents. It functioned, Pacifica said, as an umbrella firm providing accounting and human resources support to the individual communities.¹⁶

Allegations of a Corporate Shell Game

Creditors and their attorneys have alleged that Pacifica used what one reporter called an “elaborate web of companies” to move assets out of reach before the filing. In October 2024, months before the Chapter 7 petition, Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC canceled management contracts with properties including P.G. Senior Living and The Park Lane in Monterey, transferring operations to newly formed entities.¹⁷

One new entity, Heritage Resource Group, was incorporated in October 2024. Its managers, per California secretary of state filings, are Carl Knepler, who spent 13 years as Pacifica Senior Living’s chief operating officer, and Naresh Kotwani, a principal at Pacifica Companies.¹⁸ Another, Healdsburg Mgr LLC, was formed in September 2024 to take over management at Healdsburg Senior Living.⁸ Heritage Resource Group representatives described themselves as a “consulting group” rather than a management company, though residents and observers noted the same personnel appeared to be running the facilities under the new names.

Christopher Skinner, the attorney representing Hargis, alleged that Deepak Israni remained the party in control. Skinner pointed to legal fees in the copyright case paid through checks drawn from six different Pacifica-affiliated properties, all signed by Israni. At a May 19, 2025 hearing, Bankruptcy Trustee Ronald Stadtmueller continued the proceedings after Pacifica representatives could not clearly answer questions about who controlled the various entities, ordering the company to produce someone who could.¹⁷

Victor George, the Mosley family’s attorney, said he was “pursuing action” against Heritage Resource Group, alleging the bankruptcy was a scheme to avoid paying the $30 million judgment.⁸ Trustee Stadtmueller has since filed adversary proceedings against a Pacifica law firm and dozens of Pacifica-affiliated entities seeking turnover of property, though two of those proceedings were dismissed without prejudice on March 20, 2026.¹⁹

What It Means for Residents and Creditors

Despite company assurances that the bankruptcy would not disrupt resident care, at least one facility closed almost immediately. Santa Clarita Hills Senior Living, an 88-unit building, announced it was shutting down and asked residents to move by May 1, 2025. Local alternatives filled up quickly, and some families had to move relatives as far as Northridge. By April 11, 2025, all residents had been relocated with help from the Los Angeles County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.²⁰

Pacifica Companies, the parent, has not filed for bankruptcy and says it is not selling any properties. Communities previously managed by the dissolved entity would either continue under the Pacifica team or transition to third-party operators such as North Star, Brightwater, and Calson Management.¹⁶ A pending wrongful death lawsuit tied to a 2023 resident fall at The Park Lane in Monterey remained unresolved at the time of the filing.¹⁵

Whether creditors holding more than $30 million in judgments recover any meaningful share of what they are owed is now the central question of the bankruptcy. The bankrupt entity claims $100,000 in assets. Whether the trustee can reach further, into the properties, the parent company, or the newly formed entities that took over management, is what the ongoing litigation will decide.

1
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. Pacifica Senior Living Has Filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
2
Amazon Business. Customer Story: Pacifica Senior Living
3
Horvitz & Levy LLP. Mosley v. Pacifica Bakersfield, Court of Appeal Opinion
4
California Office of the Attorney General. CNMH Impact Report
5
vLex. Mosley v. Pacifica Bakersfield
6
Press Democrat. Pacifica Senior Living Bankruptcy
7
Healdsburg Tribune. Healdsburg Senior Home Accused of Elder Abuse
8
Press Democrat. Healdsburg Senior Living Bankrupt Pacifica
9
Press Democrat. Fear, Uncertainty Follow Abrupt Closure of Healdsburg Skilled Nursing Unit
10
Press Democrat. Pacifica Senior Healthcare Wrongful Death
11
IPWatchdog. Jury Awards Photographer Max Damages in Copyright Suit Against Senior Living Giant
12
Justia. Scott Hargis v. Pacifica Senior Living Management LLC, Judgment
13
National Fair Housing Alliance. NFHA Announces Settlement With Pacifica Senior Living Santa Fe
14
Phoenix Class Action. Pacifica SL Wage and Hour Cases, JCCP No. 5099 – Notice
15
Monterey County Now. Pacifica Senior Living Management Files for Bankruptcy in the Face of Mounting Bills and Legal Awards
16
Senior Living Foresight. Pacifica Senior Living Getting It Right
17
Monterey County Now. A Senior Living Company Facing Bankruptcy Spins an Elaborate Web of Companies
18
Healdsburg Tribune. Healdsburg’s Senior Home Is Reportedly Being Run by Mysterious New LLC
19
PACER Monitor. Stadtmueller v. Pacifica Augustine Road LLC et al
20
Signal SCV. Pacifica Closure Leaves Questions