SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. shares were up 28% at one point Wednesday after the nursing home operator settled a four-year-old lawsuit. Dow Jones Newswires reported that Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based Skilled agreed to pay $50 million, in the face of having to pay as much as $671 million in damages after a California jury in July issued a verdict against the company. Ordering it to pay statutory damages and restitution, the jury had ruled that Skilled violated state health and safety codes regarding the ratio of nurses to patients. Skilled shares were up 21% to $4.23 in recent action.