Little Rock Senior Living Company, Ex-Director Hit With $3M Judgment

(Shutterstock)

Correction: In a previous version of this article, a third-party software system ArkansasBusiness.com uses mistakenly linked the name of Chad Evans, the ex-director of Avenir Memory Care @ Little Rock LP, to information about an executive at Arvest Bank of the same name. They are not the same person.

A Pulaski County Circuit Court judge recently slapped a $3 million judgment against a senior living company in Little Rock and its executive director who secretly filmed private body parts of a co-worker.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cathleen V. Compton awarded $2 million to a former marketing rep at Avenir Memory Care @ Little Rock LP and $1 million to the rep’s husband on May 15. The couple had sued the company and its former director, Chad Evans, back in 2022. Avenir specialized in Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

The defendants are jointly and severally liable for the judgment, meaning if one of the defendants is unable to pay, the other one is responsible for the entire amount.

Between July 2018 and June 2020, the victim worked as a marketing rep for Avenir Memory Care, and Evans was executive director of the facility and the plaintiff’s direct supervisor.

While Evans was working, he allegedly “secretly videotaped and took pictures of [the plaintiff’s] private body parts, including photographs and videos up her skirt,” according to a motion filed by the former employee’s attorneys.

The former rep and her husband sued Evans and Avenir, alleging several instances of wrongdoing, including invasion of privacy, negligent hiring and loss of consortium.

Avenir and Evans initially had attorneys representing them, but both law firms exited the case.

However, neither Avenir nor Evans obtained new attorneys, and they didn’t bother to answer discovery questions. Whispers couldn’t reach either one for comment.

“We are thrilled by the outcome of this matter,” attorney William Ogles of Hall Booth Smith’s Little Rock office, who represented the couple, told Whispers via text message. “Our clients were victims of gross negligence and corporate indifference, and they have been finally vindicated in the award of $3 million against Chad Evans and his employer, Avenir. Our focus now turns to collecting this judgment.”

The couple was also represented by attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan, also of Hall Booth Smith’s Little Rock office.

Since the lawsuit was filed a lot has changed for Evans and Avenir.

In September 2023, Anthem Memory Care of West Linn, Oregon, said it had assumed management of Pinnacle Place Memory Care, which was known as Avenir of Little Rock.

Meanwhile, a Pulaski County Circuit Court judge in December 2022 found Evans guilty of felony video voyeurism in connection with filming the former marketing rep. He was sentenced to 60 months of probation.