West Rest Haven nursing home has reached a settlement in a lawsuit it filed against manufacturers and suppliers of agriculture grade ammonium nitrate after the West Fertilizer plant explosion destroyed the facility on April 17, 2013.
The lawsuit was filed against CF Industries, El Dorado Chemical Company and International Chemical Company.
The lawsuit said the defendants were negligent in selling and/or distributing agriculture grade ammonium nitrate, failed to properly warn of the dangers associated with the handling and storage of the product, and should never have sold the ammonium nitrate to West Fertilizer.
The defendants claim they did not cause harm to West Rest Haven and they were not responsible for the explosion.
Established in 1967, the 55,000-foot nursing home had 145 beds and 133 residents before the explosion.
The new facility opened in April 2015. It is 75,000 square-feet and has 120 beds. The nursing home currently houses 116 residents.
"On behalf of the board of directors and our shareholders, we would like to thank the law firm of Harrison Davis Steakley Morrison Jones, our administrative team and wonderful staff, the community of West, our volunteers, and especially our residents and their families for all their help and patience over the last several years," said Robby Payne, president of the board of directors at West Rest Haven, Inc. "We will continue our mission to serve the community’s senior population and take care of our residents with love and compassion, putting their needs first to the best of our ability."
West Rest Haven was represented by Harrison, Zona Jones, Bryan Harrison and Matt Morrison of Harrison Davis Steakley Morrison Jones, a law firm that also represented 10 of the families who lost family members in the explosion and 75 injured people, multiple damaged businesses and the City of West.
The amount of the settlement was not released.
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