Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NJ's handling of COVID at veterans homes under fresh scrutiny — 41 new lawsuits filed
By
Louis C. Hochman
and
Sean Carlson
Published Aug 25, 2022
Modified Aug 25, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
Louis C. Hochman
and
Sean Carlson
Published Aug 25, 2022
Modified Aug 25, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's administration has been accused since early in the pandemic of failing to protect the residents and employees of nursing and veterans homes. Veterans home staffers have filed 41 lawsuits against the Murphy administration this month alone.
They describe how nursing home management was caught off-guard by COVID, and how managers penalized staffers for trying to protect themselves. And the problems, they say, go to the top — to Murphy and his state Department of Health.
Scott Fallon has been reporting on the pandemic for NorthJersey.com. He spoke about where things stand with All Things Considered host Sean Carlson on WNYC Wednesday. The transcript of their discussion below has been lightly edited for clarity.
Sean Carlson: Tell us a bit about who is suing the administration and what sorts of problems they're citing.
Scott Fallon: So we've already had about 190 families of veterans home residents who passed away that have sued the Murphy administration. Those lawsuits have been settled to a tune of $69 million. This month, 41 employees at the Menlo Park veterans home filed lawsuits against the Murphy administration, claiming that they got ill because of a lack of infection control measures, ill preparedness and a number of other claims.
I think we all can remember early on in the pandemic, when guidance was changing constantly, right? There was so much confusion. When the administration explains why it took on the policies that it did, does that come up?
It does a lot, and there was a lot of confusion at the time. But there were a lot of things that were done that were very questionable by the veterans home administrators. There was this adamant policy against mask-wearing by staffers, especially in March of 2020. There were disciplinary proceedings that were set up for nurses who used the facility's masks. They wouldn't let outside vendors, including ambulance drivers, come in wearing masks for fear that it would make residents afraid. And it was something that was very disconcerting among the staff there, and they claimed that it led to greater spread of COVID in the facility.
What are the prospects of accountability here? These 41 lawsuits are not the first to deal with how New Jersey handled the pandemic at long-term care facilities. Are these going to change anything?
Generally, the lawsuits are all being settled out of court. So there will not be a day in court in which everything will be disclosed. Murphy has said for two years, many times, that he wants a "post mortem" on how his administration handled the pandemic, but he has yet to move on that at all. We even asked him [Tuesday] about it. And he said, again, it's a wait-and-see prospect, but he vows that it will happen.
There are three investigations going on, one by the (state) attorney general, one by the Department of Justice and one by the State Commissioner of Investigation. Where those stand, we don't know just yet. But nothing official has happened with them.
What about Murphy here? There's a lot of speculation about national ambitions for him. Is there political accountability on this? Do you think it could follow him onto the national stage? We remember in New York, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo having his own, issues with accountability on that front.
Absolutely. The Republicans have hammered him on this issue, and his gubernatorial opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, last year surprised a lot of people when he came very close to beating Murphy. So the issue is out there. And if Murphy decides to run for higher office, I'm sure the Republicans and his other opponents, perhaps in the primary, will bring this up.
What's next for the administration here, in terms of the possible fallout over the problems? And will the investigations be made public?
The investigations by law enforcement agencies, by the attorney general, the Department of Justice and by the State Commissioner of Investigation — they have to act on it before anything can come out in public. And so far they haven't. Some subpoenas have been served, interviews have been conducted, but right now, we don't know the extent of it. We don't know, really, what the fallout is going to be for those investigations.
Tagged
phil murphy
new jersey
coronavirus
Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
Read more
Sean Carlson
Before coming to New York Public Radio, Sean worked in print, online and radio news around the mid-Atlantic region and Alaska. A New Jersey native, he holds a B.A. from the New School University in Greenwich Village and an M.A. from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Hochul names NY AG James as special prosecutor on alleged rape case at Cornell University
The governor said she does not have faith that the police and the Tompkins County DA effectively investigated the case.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Oct 1, 2026 at 9:04 p.m. ET
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
US judge in NY indefinitely blocks ICE from making arrests at immigration courthouses
By
Arya Sundaram
Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
By
David Brand
Push to strengthen NY sexual assault laws gathers steam after Cornell rape allegations
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .