OSHA: Company could be fined $163K for nurse’s killing in Willimantic

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (WTNH) — A health care company is facing $163,627 in fines for not protecting a visiting nurse who was killed at a halfway house for sex offenders in Willimantic, according to OSHA.

Joyce Grayson was killed in October. Police found Grayson’s body after a welfare check was called in for her.

The federal investigation has ruled that Elara Caring “exposed home healthcare employees to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others.”

“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 it cost a worker her life,” OSHA Area Director Charles D. McGrevy in Hartford, Connecticut, said in a written announcement on Wednesday. “For its employees’ well-being, Elara must develop, implement and maintain required safeguards such as a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program. Workplace safety is not a privilege; it is every worker’s right.”

Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Come Care Inc., which both do business as Elara Caring, have been cited for not developing and implementing “adequate measures to protect employees from the ongoing serious hazard of workplace violence.” The company also did not provide work-related injury and illness records to OSHA within the required four business hours after the documents were requested.

Willimantic Police Chief Roberto Rosado called the death “one of the worst cases” he has seen in 27 years, and her killing has since ignited calls to add protections for visiting nurses.

Michael Reese has been charged with murder and attempted first-degree sexual assault in Grayson’s death.

OSHA decided that Elara Caring could have reduced the danger to nurses by performing root cause analyses on incidents of violence and “near misses.” The company could have provided employees with background information on patients before visits, could have given out panic buttons and provided escorts for patients who were considered at a high risk of committing violence, according to the federal agency.

The company now has 15 days to respond to OSHA.

In a statement to News 8, a spokesperson for Elara Caring called the OSHA citation “unwarranted,” and said the company planned to contest it.

“Connecticut’s 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,” the written statement reads. “Post-release, state authorities were responsible for monitoring and managing the patient’s activities. The death of Joyce Grayson was a tragedy, and we continue to grieve with the family.”

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