The elderly residents of a Long Island nursing home saw their shuffleboards replaced by washboard abs when they were subjected to a low-rent Chippendale’s striptease in the facility’s rec room, a new lawsuit claims.
The son of one resident, 86-year-old Bernice Youngblood, was shocked when he showed up for a visit and found a picture of his mom stuffing dollar bills — which are supposed to be locked away in her commissary account — into a dancer’s briefs.
The image also showed several of Youngblood’s fellow residents at the East Neck Nursing Center in West Babylon looking on with a mix of shock and delight as the dancers bumped and ground for their amusement.
Youngblood’s family immediately expressed their outrage to the staff — but were ignored, according to the suit.
“Plaintiff Bernice Youngblood 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],” the suit states.
Her family attorneys, John Ray and Vesselin Mitev, state in the complaint that her son, Franklin Youngblood, found the offensive photograph among her belongings during a January visit.
The irate son confronted a nurse, but the staffer lunged at him and tried to snatch the picture away, the suit states.
A nurse later told another of the victim’s sons that the strip show was an “entertainment event” for the patients and was done in “good faith,” according to the suit.
“Hiring male stippers to perform for the defendant’s nursing-home patients was a serial occurrence,” the suit claims.
“Bernice Youngblood has lived 85 years as a traditional Baptist, hard-working, lady . . . And now she has been defiled,” Ray said.
Youngblood’s family also asked why his mother was holding dollar bills in her hand when her cash was supposed to be kept under lock and key in a commissary account — but were again blown off, the papers state.
The “vile” incident was done “all for the perverse pleasure and enjoyment of the Defendant’s staff,” the suit claims.
Youngblood’s attorneys argue she “lacks the mental and physical capacity” to protect herself.
The facility did not immediately return a call for comment.