Three Employees in a North Carolina Assisted Living Facility Arrested for Encouraging Residents to Fight
The local police recently became involved after they received two reports of elder abuse at a North Carolina assisted living facility. Their investigation resulted in the arrest of three facility employees. On two separate reported occasions, the three facility employees are alleged to have provoked and encouraged physical confrontations between elderly residents with cognitive disabilities. The accused employees not only goaded the residents into fighting each other, they shoved and physically assaulted the residents.
One of the employees videoed the fights, and none of the three employees tried to intervene and stop the conflicts.
There were no injuries reported. One of the employees was charged with two counts of assault on a disabled person, and the two other employees were charged with one count of assault on a disabled person. The arrest warrant also indicated that one of the three videoed one of the assaults.
A recent statement by the facility indicated that there have been leadership changes. The facility also reported that it has a “zero-tolerance policy for the mistreatment of those in their care” and consequently terminated the three accused employees upon management’s learning of the situation. They also state that their “administrators have been working closely with the local police department” and have implemented “additional staff training and a more rigorous vetting process for all new and existing employees.”
Compliance Perspective
Failure by a facility to protect its residents from employees who engage in aberrant behavior by encouraging vulnerable residents with cognitive deficiencies to become physically combative with each other may be considered abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and may demonstrate ineffective screening of potential employees and provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding the screening process for potential employees that are designed to rule out those with negative personality characteristics and to avoid hiring such employees to work with elderly residents with cognitive impairments.
- Train staff on abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and on residents’ rights and the importance of reporting any suspected incidents to their supervisor or through the Hotline.
- Periodically audit by interviewing residents and family members to determine if incidents involving staff members may have been observed but not reported.
