Court case becomes anything but easy for Spanky's Speakeasy owners, family, workers

Court case becomes anything but easy for Spanky's Speakeasy owners, family, workers


By AISLING SWIFT

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

NAPLES — Known as "Uncle Fred" to diners at Spanky's Speakeasy, Fred Alander was near death in 2009 when his children asked for an emergency order to get him away from his wife of more than 35 years.

What's ensued in the two years since is a battle in Collier Circuit Court pitting four children, a daughter-in-law and a stepmother, leading to a recent ruling in one case.

At the center of it all is Alander, an 80-year-old Naples restaurateur who suffers from dementia and was rushed to a hospital in September 2009, suffering from malnutrition, high blood pressure and diabetes. Wounds and sores covered his body, even penetrating to the bone.

His four children contend in court papers that his wife, Jane, locked him out of his Oyster Bay home in 2006, moved him to a house behind their Airport-Pulling Road restaurant, Spanky's Speakeasy, and made "unqualified cleaning ladies, bar maids and alcoholic waiters" his caregivers so she could save money.

They contend she allowed the diabetic to eat candy, sugary and fatty foods and to continuously drink beer, leaving him outside the restaurant in the sweltering sun for 12 hours daily with no phone, propped in a wheelchair and wearing soiled Depends diapers.

"The wife has been heard to say, 'He's not dying fast enough,' " his children and daughter-in-law alleged in an emergency petition to wrest away medical and financial decisions from his wife. "... She has other interests and wants little to do with him."

Attorneys for Jane Alander, his wife of 30 years, say those are false allegations and that his children were absent for years and "seldom assisted" her. They maintain in court papers that it's the children who have neglected their father, stating:

"Jane has always been and continues to be a loving and devoted wife to Fred.

"It is Fred's children who are wrongfully attempting to take advantage of his decreased capacity for financial gain."

The lawyers also note that the couple accumulated "significant wealth" over 35 years together and he legally designated her as his guardian in old age a decade ago.

The allegations are detailed in thousands of pages of Collier Circuit Court, domestic violence and guardianship files.

Alander's legal battle illustrates the often-contentious nature of family guardianship cases, which can pit children against parents and spouses as they trade accusations over finances and the care of someone who is elderly, disabled or mentally incapacitated.

A judge must decide whether to appoint a relative, spouse or public or private guardian to oversee such a person's care and finances.

"It's known as the court of last resort," said Winsor C. Schmidt, a nationally known expert at the University of Louisville who has written numerous studies and books on guardianships. " There's a significant percentage of health-care situations, abuse and neglect – and a large proportion are fights over money."

As baby boomers age and elderly people with disabilities increase, Schmidt said, the problems will grow, especially in states with large populations of retirees and elderly.

"With such a large number of baby boomers in Florida, the challenges are probably being seen more there than in some other states," he said.

Although Fred Alander signed papers a decade ago specifying that his wife would be his caregiver, his children are saying she sold off his assets and spent as little as possible on him so she could use the money herself.

A judge granted an emergency petition allowing Fred Alander's children and daughter-in-law to become temporary guardians in September 2009, then a professional guardian was appointed months later. After two surgeries and two years recovering, unable to sit, Fred Alander now lives in a local nursing home.

This year, a judge ruled the court-appointed guardian, on behalf of Fred Alander, could sue Jane Alander and GFG Inc., the parent company of Spanky's Speakeasy.

In June, the appointed guardian's attorney, Terry Nelson of Fort Myers, filed a civil lawsuit alleging neglect, abuse and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. A judge agreed the suit could help uncover assets to provide for his care without any cost to him.

On Nov. 28, Collier Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes, who presides over the civil case, dismissed claims of abuse and exploitation against GFG Inc.

"It would appear that under the statute, the corporation does not fit the definition of a caregiver," Hayes said at the hearing, referring to Florida's statute involving vulnerable adults, abuse and exploitation.

However, Hayes allowed neglect claims against GFG to move forward after the guardian's attorney argued Spanky's employees provided care for Alander. But the judge asked for more detailed allegations, which have now been filed.

How much money is at stake isn't public because financial information is sealed in guardianship cases; the pursuit of that information in a separate civil case has just begun.

Various attorneys in the case and Jane Alander all have declined comment.

What happened to Fred Alander — and how his wife or restaurant employees were involved — has been investigated by the state Department of Children and Families and the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

A sheriff's spokeswoman said the case remains open. The Daily News isn't publishing the employees' names because they haven't been charged.DCF determined Fred Alander wasn't properly cared for, court records show.

The 2009 neglect and abuse report filed by son Steve Alander was among 353 Collier County cases investigated by DCF that fiscal year, when 42,976 were probed statewide. Of those, records show DCF investigators verified exploitation in 53 cases and medical neglect in 11 in Collier and Lee counties.

This fiscal year, 47,261 adult cases were investigated statewide, including 395 in Collier and 1,314 in Lee; 45 exploitation and nine medical neglect cases were verified.

Steve Alander obtained a temporary restraining order against a barmaid waitress who was caring for Alander, at the request of hospital employees after she caused a disruption. Court records say two nurses and a hospital employee slipped him a note with "abuse hotline" circled.

"(She) did nothing but give care in a responsible and professional manner," her attorney, Joshua Faett of Naples, said of the waitress who also worked part time as a caregiver. "(She) was simply drawn into a family squabble."

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