Long Island Nursing Home Sued For Hiring Male Striptease Performance

East Neck Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Long Island has been named defendant in a recent nursing home lawsuit, filed on behalf of one of their 86-year-old residents, Bernice Youngblood. The suit was brought by Youngblood’s son Franklin, after he stumbled upon a photograph of a male stripper, clad in nothing but underwear, dancing precariously close to his mother.

The West Babylon nursing home center owned by Cassena Care argues that its residents approved the entertainment choice, after a 16-member panel voted unanimously for the stripper’s performance.

Legal counsel for the plaintiffs counters that the strip show was done purely for the own sick amusement of the employees, and calls the adult entertainment, “grotesque.” Franklin further claims his mother was coerced into tipping the male performer with her own cash – money that was supposed to be under lock and key.

Nursing home lawsuit filed after male stripper performance

“There’s too much sex and craziness that’s going on. Now they’re bringing it to the nursing home, and it don’t belong here,” Franklin Youngblood told WCBS. Franklin found the photograph among his mother’s personal items last year, but when he confronted one of the head staff about the incident, she “lunged at him and tried to snatch the photograph out of his hand,” contends the lawsuit.

The complaint goes on to allege that Bernice Youngblood, who has partial dementia, has suffered mental anguish, emotional distress, and a loss of dignity following the nursing home strip tease show. Court documents also claim that Bernice was simply confused and bewildered by the performance, particularly when the stripper asked her to “place her hands about and upon his body, including his genital area.”

An attorney for the East Neck Nursing and Rehabilitation Center counter that its nursing home residents are grown adults and that the entertainment was appropriate and totally consensual. It is also alleged that Bernice Youngblood was escorted from her room to the event by her son’s girlfriend, who is purportedly shown in the photo. Franklin denies this claim, stating the woman in question is an employee at the Long Island facility.

On its website, the East Neck Nursing and Rehabilitation Center says:  “We honor the individuality, dignity, privacy, and safety of each individual with whom we have the pleasure of working, and we work closely with family members and caregivers to ensure that we stay focused on making everyone involved feel as confident, comfortable, and joyful as possible.”

Elderly resident suffers from partial dementia

The lawsuit, which is seeking an unspecified amount in financial damages to be determined by a jury, asserts that such a “planned, entertainment event,” is wholly inappropriate for seniors at the facility. Of the hired stripper, attorney for the Youngblood states, “He’s leaning over her. He’s not just standing there; he’s intimidating her. This might be great for 32-year-old single girls, but this is an 86-year-old traditional, African-American woman who doesn’t want white men sticking their private parts in her face.”

The director of public policy with the Council of Senior Centers and Services, Bobbie Sackman, agrees with the Youngbloods. Sackman told CBS News that in her entire career, she’s never heard of a striptease show in a skilled nursing home, and feels it is inappropriate.