Ggnsc Arkadelphia, LLC D/b/a Golden Living Center-Arkadelphia; Ggnsc Camden, LLC D/b/a Golden Living Center-Camden…

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed certification of a class action by nursing-home residents and estates alleging that Golden Living facilities chronically understaffed their facilities, breaching admission agreements and violating statutory rights. The court held that common liability questions concerning staffing and alleged systemic understaffing predominated over individualized causation, injury, and damages issues, which could be addressed later in bifurcated proceedings. It also upheld the superiority finding and the objectively defined class. Justice Hart, joined by Justice Wood, dissented, arguing that individualized proximate-cause and injury inquiries defeated predominance.