HARTFORD, Conn. — A home care agency is being fined over $163,000 after a federal workplace safety investigation into the death of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, OSHA said Wednesday. Elara Caring said the citation is "unwarranted" and that they "intend to fight it vigorously."
Grayson, a 63-year-old licensed home healthcare nurse who worked for Elara Caring for 15 years, was found dead in the basement of a halfway house in October 2023. She had reportedly been attempting to administer medication for convicted rapist Michael Reese, 39, who is now facing charges in her murder and attempted sexual assault.
According to OSHA, their investigation determined that Elara Caring "did not provide adequate safeguards" to protect their employees, including Grayson, from "patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others."
The home care agency faces a total of $163,627 in proposed penalties, OSHA said. Including both Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc. doing business as Elara Caring, the agency was cited for "one willful violation under the agency's general duty clause."
The citations facing the agency include "not developing and implementing adequate measures to protect employees" from workplace violence, as well as "not providing work-related injury and illness records" to OSHA within the required four business hours. A link to the full details on the citations can be found here.
In a statement from Elara Caring, a spokesperson said that the "Connecticut Department of Correction, Board of Pardons and Parole and Judicial Branch determined that the patient who allegedly murdered New England Home Care, Inc. nurse Joyce Grayson was safe for reentry into the community" and that "state authorities were responsible for monitoring and managing" Reese after his release.
"The death of Joyce Grayson was a tragedy, and we continue to grieve with the family," the spokesperson said.
In November 2023, Elara Caring said that "the safety and wellbeing of our team members is our highest priority" and that they were "devastated" to learn about the loss of Grayson.
Charles McGrevy, OSHA area director in Hartford, said in a statement that Elara Caring "failed its legal duty to protect employees from workplace injury by not having effective measures in place to protect employees against a known hazard" and that "workplace safety is not a privilege; it is every worker's right."
Additionally, McGrevy called on Elara to "develop, implement and maintain required safeguards such as a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program."
OSHA said that the agency could have lowered the risk of workplace violence by analyzing the root cause of violent incidents, giving clinicians background information on their patients before home visits, providing emergency panic alert buttons and developing safety procedures for visits.
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According to OSHA, Elara Caring has 15 days after receiving the citations and penalties to comply, request a conference with the OSHA area director or contest the findings "before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission."
As noted by OSHA, a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 849 U.S. workers died in workplace violence incidents in 2022.
Following Grayson's death, state lawmakers vowed to require safety precautions and risk assessment in the industry and plan to work on a "new tailored bill in the future to ensure safety." The legislative session for 2024 ends on May 8.
Reese had his bail set to $2 million and is expected in court on June 7.
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