Lochridge v. Pioneer Health Services

Circuit Court of Monroe County, Mississippi

Cause No. CV08-531-PM

On April 25, 2013, a jury in the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Mississippi, awarded Linda Lochridge of Aberdeen, Mississippi, $350,000 in damages against Pioneer Health Services of Monroe County, Inc., the management company that runs the Aberdeen-Monroe County Hospital. Mrs. Lochridge was employed by Pioneer as director of the Garden Suites Assisted Living Center in Aberdeen. In 2007, Pioneer laid Mrs. Lochridge off in what Pioneer described as a purely financial decision. For a long period of time, Mrs. Lochridge had used her own money to purchase items that were used at the facility. After she was laid off, she returned to the facility to retrieve some of those items. Pioneer had her indicted for burglary, despite the fact that Mrs. Lochridge had receipts for all the items she retrieved. In response to those false criminal charges, which were ultimately dismissed in their entirety, Mrs. Lochridge filed suit for malicious prosecution. Attorneys for Plaintiff were Jim Waide and Rachel Pierce Waide of Waide & Associates, P.A. in Tupelo, Mississippi. Attorney for Defendant was J. Tucker Mitchell of Mitchell Day Law Firm, PLLC, in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Judge Jim S. Pounds presided over the three-day trial, which was held in Aberdeen.