Male strippers caused emotional distress to nursing home resident, suit alleges
Bernice Youngblood slipping a dollar bill into a the waistband of a stripper hired to perform at her Long Island nursing home. Photo courtesy of Ray, Mitev & Associates.
Male strippers hired to perform at a Long Island nursing home caused emotional distress to an elderly resident there, according to a lawsuit (PDF) filed on her behalf.
The suit offers proof: a photo of “muscular, almost entirely nude male” straddling the plaintiff, 85-year-old Bernice Youngblood. NJ.com, the New York Post and NBC New York have news coverage, along with the photo, which shows the woman stuffing cash into the stripper’s briefs.
The suit says Youngblood, who has dementia, was “placed in apprehension of imminent, offensive, physical harm, as she was confused and bewildered as to why a muscular, almost nude man, was approaching her and placing his body and limbs, over [her].”
Youngblood’s son, Franklin Youngblood, filed the suit in March on behalf of his mother against the East Neck Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Babylon. He says he learned of the event in January 2013 when he visited the home and saw the photo. He asked the head nurse about the photo and she tried to snatch it from his hands, he alleges. Ray, Mitev & Associates of New York City represents the family.
A lawyer for the nursing home, Howard Fensterman, said a committee of 16 residents had requested the stripper show and paid for the September 2012 event with their own money, according to NBC New York and a different story by the New York Post. “They welcomed it, and it looks like they had a good time,” he said.
Last updated April 10 to include link to the lawsuit and photo.
