The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep vulnerabilities in America’s nursing home system, with over 200,000 resident and staff deaths nationwide. In the years since, a significant shift has emerged in litigation: courts and families are increasingly viewing chronic staffing shortages not as unfortunate accidents, but as deliberate systemic failures driven by corporate ownership models. This “corporate negligence” doctrine holds large nursing home chains accountable for prioritizing profits over adequate staffing, leading to preventable harm like bedsores, falls, dehydration, and infections.
As of late 2025, lawsuits across the U.S. highlight how for-profit chains extract funds meant for care, leaving facilities understaffed and residents neglected. In Georgia, where many facilities in Atlanta and surrounding areas like Macon and Augusta are part of national corporate networks, this trend is gaining traction. Families are no longer just suing individual caregivers; they’re targeting the corporate entities that set staffing policies as a “business model”.
From Individual Errors to Systemic Corporate Failures
Historically, nursing home lawsuits focused on isolated acts of negligence by staff, whether a missed medication or an overlooked wound. Post-pandemic, the lens has widened to corporate liability. Large for-profit chains, which own the majority of U.S. nursing homes, often operate with razor-thin staffing to maximize margins. Studies show facilities with the highest profits frequently have the lowest staffing levels and poorest quality outcomes.
In 2025, reports from states like California and New Jersey detail owners pocketing millions while purposely understaffing homes, leading to resident suffering. One California chain faced multiple lawsuits alleging understaffing caused repeated falls, assaults, and medication overdoses. Similarly, national chains have seen bankruptcy filings amid allegations of dodging accountability through delays and settlements.
This shift recognizes understaffing as a foreseeable risk created by corporate decisions: diverting Medicaid and Medicare funds to related-party transactions, executive bonuses, or real estate deals instead of hiring nurses. Courts are increasingly allowing claims of “corporate negligence”, where the parent company is liable for institutional policies that endanger residents.
In Georgia, with its growing elderly population in metro Atlanta and beyond, corporate-owned facilities face scrutiny for similar patterns; high turnover, low wages, and staffing below recommended levels.
The pandemic amplified these issues, but they persist. Even as federal minimum staffing mandates were proposed and then repealed in December 2025 amid industry pushback and lawsuits (including from Georgia), advocates argue the rollback protects profits over people. Georgia joined multi-state challenges to federal rules, citing workforce shortages, but critics point to corporate reluctance to pay competitive wages as the real barrier.
Georgia’s Legislative Landscape: No Immunity Shield for Ongoing Neglect
During the height of COVID-19, Georgia enacted temporary liability protections for healthcare facilities, including nursing homes, shielding them from certain lawsuits related to pandemic response. These immunities, extended through executive orders, largely sunset by mid-2022, reverting to standard negligence laws.
Today, without broad immunity, Georgia facilities face full accountability for post-pandemic neglect. State law requires “sufficient” staffing to meet resident needs, and violations can lead to citations, fines, or license revocation by the Department of Community Health. While COVID-era claims were limited, current cases alleging chronic understaffing causing bedsores or falls proceed under traditional theories, including corporate negligence.
In Atlanta-area facilities owned by national chains, families have pursued claims exposing profit-driven understaffing. One notable Georgia case involved a $6 million settlement for a resident’s death linked to staffing lapses and neglected pressure sores. Legislative efforts to strengthen staffing have stalled amid shortages, but courts remain open to holding corporations responsible. Georgia’s rejection of permanent immunity post-COVID signals that systemic failures won’t be excused indefinitely.
Forensic Staffing Audits: Uncovering the Truth in Discovery
Modern nursing home litigation relies heavily on “forensic staffing audits”, which are detailed analyses of payroll data, schedules, and financial records to prove understaffing patterns. During discovery, plaintiffs demand Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data submitted to CMS, which tracks daily staffing hours.
Experts reconstruct timelines: comparing claimed care (turning residents every two hours) against actual staff presence. Discrepancies reveal neglect, such as one nurse responsible for dozens of residents or clustered documentation suggesting backfilling. Financial forensics trace funds: how much revenue went to care versus corporate overhead?
In 2025 cases nationwide, these audits have dismantled defenses blaming “labor shortages”. Instead, they show deliberate choices: low wages driving turnover, or profits siphoned to owners. In Georgia, where rural and urban facilities alike struggle (Atlanta metro and surrounding counties), audits help link corporate budgets to on-the-ground harm, proving negligence was foreseeable and preventable.
Expert Insight from Holbert Law
Bill Holbert of Holbert Law is uniquely positioned to tackle these complex corporate cases. Having formerly defended nursing homes, he understands the inner workings of large chains, their excuses for shortages, financial maneuvers, and defense strategies.
“Corporate negligence is the future of this litigation,” says Holbert. “We’ve seen chains in Georgia and beyond treat understaffing as a cost-saving strategy, not a crisis. By navigating layered corporate structures (parent companies, management firms, real estate entities), we uncover where decisions are made and funds diverted. Forensic audits of staffing and finances are game-changers, turning vague shortages into provable patterns of neglect.”
Holbert Law has focused experience in elder law in Atlanta, securing justice for families in Atlanta and throughout Georgia affected by bedsores, falls, medication errors, and wrongful deaths tied to systemic understaffing.
Holding Corporations Accountable: A Path Forward
The rise of corporate negligence claims marks a turning point, empowering families to challenge profit-over-people models. In Georgia, without lingering pandemic immunities, the door is open for accountability. If your loved one in an Atlanta-area or statewide facility has suffered from unexplained injuries, weight loss, or recurrent issues, it may stem from deeper corporate failures.
Don’t accept “shortages” as an excuse. Holbert Law offers free consultations to review potential corporate negligence cases, leveraging insider knowledge and forensic tools to build strong claims. Visit https://www.georgianursinghomelawyer.com/ today to protect your family and demand the care your loved ones deserve.