A major health care provider is facing a $163,627 fine in connection with the murder of a nurse in a Connecticut halfway house.
The Department of Labor announced the citations Wednesday against Elara Caring in the death of Joyce Grayson.
Grayon, 63, was working at a halfway house in Willimantic on Oct. 28, 2023 when she was attacked and killed by Michael Reese, according to authorities. Reese, a 39-year-old convicted rapist, has been charged with her murder.
“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,” Occupational Safety and Health Administration Area Director Charles D. McGrevy said in a statement.
“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.”
Grayson had been a nurse for 36 years, including 26 years with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. She was set to administer medication to Reese, who was on probation after serving 14 years in prison for stabbing and raping a woman in 2006.
According to OSHA, Elara Caring “exposed home health care employees to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others,” yet the company had no harm-prevention plan in place.
Reese strangled Grayson to death and struck her on the head and torso while attempting to rob and sexually assault her, police said. He admitted to the crime in a phone call shortly afterward, according to investigators.
“I’m going to take the first offer that they give me as long as the charges are right,” he said, according to a warrant. “I’ve already come to terms that this is it for me.”
