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.
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.
The death of Joyce Grayson was a senseless crime, and The Connection continues to mourn her immeasurable loss,' it said in a statement. 'We will let the legal process address the root causes of this tragedy.' Last week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed fining Elara Caring about $161,000 after finding the company failed to protect Grayson.