Tension escalated at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home on Tuesday after talks broke down between the attorneys for the home and families affected by the imminent closure of its long-term care facility.
After being released to TheWrap, a letter went out to the families at the home indicating that the talks had ended and that plans to close the facility must move ahead. (Full letter below.)
"We have tried to reach a mutually acceptable solution with the lawyers who are representing many of you in connection with the closure," the letter said. "We must move forward with phasing out the facility."
But the move further enraged families whose elderly parents are among the remaining 80 or so families that have yet to move.
They vowed to sue the home, and said they would not leave voluntarily.
Asked if he believed there would be a lawsuit, anti-closure activist Richard Stellar told TheWrap, "Absolutely. We don’t want one. We’re being pushed into a corner... At the end of the day a lawsuit will be very painful. But we’re prepared for this."
Late on Tuesday, the grass-roots coalition called Saving The Lives Of Our Own put out a news release protesting the MPTF letter, and saying they would not leave the facility of their own accord. (Release posted below.)
“When they carry me out of my home in a coffin, that's when I'll leave here,” said Larry Jennings, a 73-year-old resident and electrician, member of IATSE Local 40.
Melody Sherwood, whose mother, Kay Meyer, is a resident of the facility, said, "The more the MPTF tries to defend its indefensible position, the more public outrage is generated in support of the 80 frail, elderly residents who are being forced out of their homes. Families will not be fooled into ‘voluntarily’ relocating their loved ones."
But MPTF officials said they had tried to negotiate and now could do nothing further.
"We have done everything," Ken Scherer, CEO of the MPTF, told TheWrap. "We've done our research, and we feel they do not have legal case." (See full one-on-one with Ken Scherer.)
The rising tension raised the ugly prospect of a forced eviction by the MPTF of sick, elderly residents who could be required to leave the facility by Thanksgiving.
In January, the MPTF announced that it was closing the long-term care facility and hospital as a measure to stave off bankruptcy.
The non-profit organization, established by Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin 87 years ago, said at the time that it was losing $10 million a year and risked depleting its endowment within a few years if it did not stop the financial losses.
But the announcement came without warning, and has turned into what can only be considered a public relations nightmare for the MPTF.
An investigation done by TheWrap in February found that organization's most recent tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service in November 2008 show no $10 million losses, or any losses at all.
