Slain nurse's husband sues health care company, alleging it ignored employees' safety concerns

abcnews.go.com:

Home health care provider Elara Caring is being sued by the husband of a Connecticut visiting nurse who was killed during an appointment with a convicted rapist

The husband of a Connecticut visiting nurse who was killed during an appointment with a convicted rapist filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday, alleging her employer repeatedly ignored workers' safety concerns about treating dangerous patients.

Ronald Grayson sued Elara Caring, its affiliated companies and others over the killing of his wife, Joyce Grayson, a 63-year-old mother of six who was found dead in the basement of a halfway house in Willimantic on Oct. 28. She was strangled and suffered multiple blunt force injuries, authorities said. Elara Caring, based in Dallas, Texas, denies the allegations.

“For years prior to October 28, 2023, employees of Elara Caring affiliates experienced multiple, repeated instances in which they were verbally, physically and sexually harassed, assaulted, attacked, yelled at, chased, threatened, punched, kicked, grabbed and brushed up against by mentally unstable and/or violent patients of Elara Caring,” according to the lawsuit, which seeks undisclosed damages.

Instead of addressing nurses' concerns, the lawsuit alleges, the company encouraged employees to focus on increasing profitability while nurses were “chastised, shamed and gaslit, led to believe that they were overreacting.” Staff were “required to treat patients who were dangerous, mentally unstable and, frequently, unsuitable for home health care services,” the lawsuit says.

The suit, filed in Middletown Superior Court, also accuses the company of failing to implement a policy allowing escorts or other staff to accompany nurses when they visit potentially dangerous