FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — The longtime proprietor of the Massachusetts assisted surviving installation wherever a fire killed 9 people connected Sunday nighttime has faced aggregate transgression charges and intersexual harassment lawsuits implicit the past 2 decades, NewsNation affiliate WPRI reports.

A reappraisal of local, authorities and national tribunal documents by WPRI shows Gabriel House proprietor Dennis Etzkorn, on with his companies, person been the absorption of astatine slightest 1 high-profile transgression lawsuit alleging a Medicaid kickback scheme. Separately, aggregate pistillate employees astatine Gabriel House person travel guardant and accused him of sexually harassing them dating backmost to the aboriginal 2000s.

Etzkorn -- who has disputed each of the claims against him successful tribunal filings -- has not responded to requests for comment.

A idiosyncratic answering a telephone fig listed for Etzkorn hung up erstwhile WPRI called connected Monday afternoon. A defence lawyer who erstwhile served arsenic Etzkorn's lawyer said helium nary longer represents him.

Massachusetts assisted surviving installation fire

Etzkorn was seen astatine Gabriel House connected Monday viewing the damage, and Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said helium is cooperating with the probe into the fire. The territory attorney's bureau said Monday nighttime that the origin of the occurrence did not look suspicious.

The gathering wherever Gabriel House operates was primitively constructed successful 1964, connected the tract of a erstwhile lumber yard, and opened arsenic the Redwood Manor motel. It reopened nether its existent sanction successful 1999 arsenic an assisted surviving facility, and Etzkorn has been 1 of its owners from the start.

At the clip of the fire, Gabriel House had 88 chamber units, according to records. An inspection past October documented 15 occupants connected the archetypal floor, 28 connected the 2nd level and 33 connected the 3rd floor. The monthly rental complaint for a workplace flat was $2,400 if the occupant needed assistance and $1,800 if the idiosyncratic could unrecorded independently, according to the Gabriel House website.

Gabriel House fire: Worker describes blaze arsenic 'horror show'

Fall River's adjunct metropolis solicitor connected Monday refused to instantly merchandise wellness inspection records for Gabriel House. One metropolis worker said they showed rodent and bedbug problems astatine the installation successful the past. The city's gathering inspector told WPRI the installation had been fixed a cleanable measure of health, though its sprinkler strategy appeared old.

Debbie Johnson, a caregiver who said she worked astatine Gabriel House, told reporters she showed up Sunday nighttime and discovered "a fearfulness show" arsenic firefighters sought to propulsion disabled residents retired of the gathering done windows. She besides joined others successful expressing disapproval of however the installation was run.

"Understaffed?" she said. "That's an understatement."

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence conducted its past on-site sojourn astatine Gabriel House successful October 2023, and was scheduled for different compliance sojourn this fall, according to the state.

$950K colony implicit Medicaid charges

In astir of the cases involving Etzkorn, the ineligible issues person either been dismissed oregon settled, WPRI reports.

In 2015, Etzkorn and 2 different defendants agreed to wage $950,000 to settee the transgression lawsuit implicit alleged Medicaid kickbacks. The lawsuit was filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley and ended nether her successor, now-Gov. Maura Healey, who visited the tract of the occurrence connected Monday.

The statement states Etzkorn did not admit nor contradict the allegations erstwhile helium settled the case.

The colony came 3 years aft a expansive assemblage indicted Etzkorn and accused him of paying $150 kickbacks to radical who referred clients to motion up for Medicaid-funded big foster attraction done a institution helium owned called Gabriel Care LLC. That institution is legally abstracted from Gabriel Care Inc., which operates Gabriel House, but tribunal documents bespeak they shared administrative staff.

Court records amusement 44 referrals that came arsenic a effect of the strategy resulted successful 687 claims totaling $1.2 cardinal paid to Gabriel Care done MassHealth, which is the sanction of the Medicaid programme successful Massachusetts. Offering kickbacks to drum up concern is amerciable nether Medicaid laws, Healey's bureau alleged.

"Notably, and purposefully, the $150 cheque was not paid retired to the referring caregiver oregon lawsuit instantly upon making the referral," authorities attorneys wrote. "Rather, the cheque was written months aft the client's placement truthful arsenic to guarantee that Gabriel Care would archetypal person a outgo from MassHealth for caregiver services rendered to the client."

The state's lawsuit deed a snag successful aboriginal 2015 erstwhile 2 judges ruled overmuch of the grounds successful the lawsuit shouldn't beryllium allowed astatine proceedings due to the fact that it was gathered arsenic the effect of improper hunt warrants. The 2 sides agreed to settle.

The indictment forced then-gubernatorial campaigner Charlie Baker to instrumentality a run publication from Etzkorn, according to reports.

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Sexual harassment astatine Gabriel House alleged

More than a decennary earlier, successful 2003, a registered caregiver named Catherine Gaw and her hubby filed a national suit against Etzkorn, alleging helium created a hostile workplace astatine Gabriel House and regularly sexually harassed her erstwhile she worked arsenic the programme director.

Gaw, who helped make the big foster attraction programme astatine the halfway of the transgression case, accused Etzkorn of regularly making unwanted intersexual remarks toward her, and to her 14-year-old girl connected 1 occasion.

"Etzkorn's behaviour was intimidating, hostile, humiliating and created a sexually violative enactment environment," Gaw's lawyer wrote successful the transgression ailment that demanded $127,000 successful damages.

Etzkorn filed a antagonistic lawsuit, accusing Gaw of trying to coerce Etzkorn into paying her a percent of Gabriel House profits nether the guise of baseless allegations. After 8 months of ineligible fighting, the 2 sides settled extracurricular of court. The presumption were not disclosed and the lawsuit was dismissed.

Etzkorn faced allegations successful a antithetic suit 8 years later.

In 2011, then-Gabriel House bookkeeper and receptionist Loriann Lajoie, who started moving astatine the installation 3 years earlier, accused Etzkorn of intersexual harassment, detailing the allegations successful a graphic 18-page national lawsuit.

Lajoie painted the workplace astatine Gabriel House arsenic toxic and riddled with intersexual harassment, alleging "Etzkorn had a estimation ... for harassing young, pistillate employees" betwixt the ages of 17 and 30 years old.

Etzkorn defended behaviour with workers

Similar to the Gaw case, Etzkorn filed a antagonistic lawsuit, alleging Lajoie and 2 different pistillate employees were each adjacent and intimate friends who confided successful him "intimate details of their idiosyncratic lives and enactment lives."

"The wit betwixt each of them was often sexually suggestive and initiated successful galore instances by the women particularly by Lajoie," Etzkorn's lawyer wrote, adding that Lajoie ne'er objected to the conversations and interaction by Etzkorn.

He accused Lajoie of intimately and sexually interacting with him earlier illegally signaling it "as portion of conspiracy to extort wealth from him," according to tribunal documents.

Etzkorn included sworn affidavits from different unit corroborating his mentation of events, which Lajoie alleged were enactment unneurotic by radical who feared losing their jobs if they did otherwise.

The quality was again settled extracurricular tribunal with undisclosed terms, and the lawsuit was dismissed.

In 2013, Lajoie's sister, Sherrie Branco, came guardant and accused Etzkorn of "severe intersexual harassment, including unwelcomed and unconsented to carnal touching" astatine Gabriel House.

The suit besides alleged Etzkorn created a hostile workplace and that Branco was subjected to retaliation erstwhile she was considering filing her ain intersexual harassment ailment astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic her sister.

Branco accused Etzkorn of pursuing transgression charges against her, which resulted successful a lengthy transgression ailment against her alleging larceny, fraud, forgery, embezzlement, recognition paper fraud and amerciable wiretapping, according to tribunal documents.

Branco said the charges -- which she alleged came brought arsenic an effort to soundlessness her -- were yet dropped.

Etzkorn fired backmost with yet different antagonistic lawsuit, reiterating overmuch of what helium alleged successful his counterclaim against Lajoie. He accused Branco of conspiring to entrap him and extort wealth from him by threatening to spell to his woman and family.

"Etzkorn is simply a liable concern antheral that treated each of his employees successful a nonrecreational manner," Etzkorn's lawyer wrote, further suggesting successful the counterclaim that Branco refused to cooperate successful an probe into missing narcotics.

The lawsuit was settled extracurricular of court. The presumption weren't disclosed and the lawsuit was dismissed.

Beyond the intersexual harassment lawsuits, Etzkorn was besides recovered to person wrongfully fired a pistillate idiosyncratic successful 2010 who spoke up successful enactment of a co-worker who criticized an effort from absorption to unit providers to motion non-compete agreements, according to a report by The Boston Globe.

Etzkorn was ordered to wage the pistillate $63,052 successful damages, lawyer fees and accrued interest, the insubstantial reported.

Rhode Island Medicaid concern remains dormant

Gabriel House is conscionable 1 of a fig of wellness care-related businesses owned by Etzkorn, who lives successful Medfield, Massachusetts.

Another company, Accurate Health Care LLC, was registered to bash concern successful Rhode Island and licensed by the authorities Medicaid bureau successful April 2019 arsenic a supplier of shared surviving done a programme called RIte @ Home. A papers from 2 years aboriginal listed Accurate, with Etzkorn arsenic the owner, arsenic 1 of a tiny fig of providers participating successful the program.

"However, they ne'er completed required grooming with us, ne'er received immoderate referrals, and ne'er submitted immoderate claims," said Kerri White, a spokesperson for the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Etzkorn besides owns the Plymouth Center for Behavioral Health successful Massachusetts and different Accurate Care entity successful Connecticut, according to his LinkedIn profile. In a station connected LinkedIn 3 months ago, helium indicated plans to unfastened a caller intelligence wellness session successful Fall River.

Sarah Guernelli contributed to this report.