Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has launched an attempt at reinstating a lawsuit against 25 Golden LivingCenters locations, arguing that leaving it dormant would have “unintended consequences” for the state’s residents.
Shapiro’s arguments are laid out in a brief recently filed with the state’s Supreme Court, PennLive.com reported on Thursday.
In the brief, Shapiro contends that without reviving the lawsuit and reversing a lower court’s March decision to dismiss the case, state officials would have a hard time punishing businesses who falsely advertise their services.
The lawsuit’s main argument against Golden was that its marketing statements promised services it couldn’t possibly provide due to understaffing. In its ruling to dismiss the suit, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania said the statements criticized by the attorney general in the suit were “puffery” — or exaggerated sales talk — and not false advertising.
Leaving the Commonwealth Court’s ruling in place would “have wide-ranging and unintended consequences that limit the ability of the attorney general to protect the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and particularly her most vulnerable citizens, from the deceptive practices of a wide swath of businesses that span the gamut — nursing homes, payday lenders, opioid manufacturers and beyond,” Shapiro wrote.
A request for comment from Golden was not returned by production deadline Thursday. The lawsuit, first filed by then-Attorney General Kathleen Kane in 2015, was bashed by Golden CEO Neil Kurtz at the time as “baseless and wholly without merit.”
