OSHA Proposes $163K Fine for Home Health Agency After Murder of Home Health Worker
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a $163, 627 fine for a home healthcare provider that the agency alleged failed to protect workers from serious hazards of workplace violence. OSHA cited Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc., which do business as Elara Caring – one of the largest home healthcare providers in the United States with more than 200 branches in 17 states.
OSHA initiated an investigation following the attempted sexual assault and murder of visiting nurse, Joyce Grayson, in October 2023. Grayson visited a halfway house in Willimantic, Connecticut on October 28, 2023, to provide medications to a client. The police were called after Grayson failed to attend subsequent appointments, and her body was found in the basement of the residence. The client she was visiting, Michael Reese, 39, had previously been convicted of rape and had served 14 years in prison after sexually assaulting and stabbing a woman in 2006. He has since been charged with murder, felony murder, and attempted first-degree sexual assault.
OSHA determined that there were insufficient safeguards to protect home health workers. On multiple occasions, home healthcare workers had been exposed to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others. OSHA said Elara Caring failed to reduce the risk of hazards in the workplace, such as providing nurses with background information on clients, providing home healthcare staff with emergency panic buttons, and developing procedures for using safety escorts for patients with high-risk behaviors.
“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,” said OSHA area director, Charles McGreavy. “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.”
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Elara Caring said the incident was a tragedy, but disputed OSHA’s findings and plans to vigorously contest the citation. A company spokesperson said Reese had been released from jail and was determined by the Department of Corrections to be safe to re-enter the community. The murder prompted lawmakers in Connecticut to introduce legislation that requires home healthcare agencies in the state to improve protections for workers, including providing them with background information on clients. The legislation was recently passed by the House and now awaits the governor’s signature.
