Ken Conner and the GOP's Nursing Home Dilemma

Dan Frith

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Ken Conner, the conservative Christian Republican trial lawyer came to Washington to testify in support of a bill that would ban the use of mandatory binding arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts. You see, most nursing homes require new residents (or their family members) to sign an arbitration agreement which prevents them from holding the nursing home legally responsible for any harm, injury, or death caused by the nursing home's negligence.

The nursing home arbitration bill is one of nearly a dozen Democratic-backed measures introduced in Congress over the past year banning mandatory arbitration provisions in nursing home admission contracts.

But here is where the Republican party's dilemma comes in.

Connor sues nursing homes for a living, as a lawyer at a big-time plaintiffs' firm known for supporting Democrats. Just last month, Connor won a $2 million verdict against Sunrise Senior Living in California for letting an elderly woman develop fatal bedsores. So when he testifies on the Hill, Connor is essentially representing the nation's trial lawyers, who see mandatory arbitration as a threat to their livelihood. As such, Republicans would love to dismiss Connor as just another greedy trial lawyer. But Connor's religious-right bona fides simply make that impossible!

Lets keep an eye on this story.