110 HR 3995 IH: To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-10-30
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EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.Protecting the interests of
each resident of intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded in
class action lawsuits on behalf of such resident
(a)Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, no entity that receives funds from the Federal
government may use such funds to file a class action lawsuit against an
intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded on behalf of any resident
of such facility unless the resident (or, if there is a legal representative of
the resident, such legal representative), after receiving notice of the
proposed class action lawsuit, has the opportunity to elect not to have the
action apply to the resident.
(b)Notices;
resident right of withdrawal from lawsuit
(1)Plaintiff notice
of proposed lawsuit to facilityIf an entity uses funds from the
Federal government to file a class action lawsuit against an intermediate care
facility for the mentally retarded on behalf of residents of such facility, the
entity shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to the facility at least 90
days before the date of filing of the lawsuit.
(2)Facility notice
of proposed lawsuit to residentsNot later than 30 days after the
date the facility receives such notice, the facility shall provide notice of
the proposed lawsuit to each resident of such facility on behalf of which the
lawsuit is proposed to be filed and, if there is a legal representative of such
a resident, to such representative.
(3)Resident right
to withdraw from lawsuitA resident (or, if there is a legal
representative of such a resident, the legal representative) may elect not to
be part of such a proposed lawsuit by filing a notice of such decision with the
facility within 60 days of the date the facility notifies the resident or legal
representative of the proposed class lawsuit.
(c)Legal
representative definedIn
this section, the term legal representative means, with respect to
a resident of an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, an
individual who has been appointed under State law to be a legal guardian,
conservator, or other representative for the resident and who is authorized
under law to make decisions on behalf of the resident with respect to care and
treatment of the resident in the facility.
(d)This section shall apply to lawsuits filed after the date of
the enactment of this Act.