Dwayne Clark’s Aegis Living: Troubling Health & Safety Record
Dwayne Clark’s “luxury” Aegis Living facilities in Washington and California have a long record of health, safety, and workplace issues impacting both residents and the people who care for them. Under Dwayne Clark, Aegis Living has faced multiple lawsuits, family and caregiver complaints, OSHA and state health and safety violations, raising concerns that the billionaire is exploiting residents and workers for his own profits.
RESIDENT HEALTH & SAFETY CONCERNS AT AEGIS LIVING
READ MORE
WORKPLACE CONCERNS AT AEGIS LIVING
READ MORE
Infection Risks, Understaffing, Among Resident Concerns At Aegis Living
Dwayne Clark’s Aegis Living has been sued, and fined by multiple agencies, for serious health and safety issues, many related to inadequate staffing levels and training.
Violated elder abuse laws: Two class action lawsuits, one in Washington state and one in California, said Aegis Living violated elder financial abuse and consumer protection laws by deliberately “leaving facilities understaffed and resident needs unmet.” Aegis Living agreed to pay $16.25 million in 2021.
“Abuse, Gross Neglect, Exploitation”: According to records from the WA Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, residents and their families have filed nearly 100 complaints about Aegis Living facilities in King County, including multiple complaints of “Abuse, Gross Neglect, Exploitation.”
Serious falls, dehydration, lacerations, and bruises: Aegis Living of Bellevue was sued by family members who said understaffing led to finding their mother numerous times “unattended on the floor tangled in her bedding...She had sustained numerous unattended falls at Aegis, resulting in lacerations and bruises throughout her body.” Family members say they “found her on multiple occasions in linen and adult diapers soiled with urine and feces. Her teeth, hair and nails were often left unclean” and she even required hospitalization after doctors discovered she was dehydrated.” She also “lost 6 pounds in a three week period,” according to the Bellevue Reporter.
Sexual assault: A man allegedly repeatedly raped 2 female residents with significant cognitive impairments while he worked at Aegis Living Shoreline, raising questions about adequate supervision and staffing.
Tuberculosis risk: Aegis Living of Bellevue Overlake was fined by the state multiple times including for a failure that “placed 92 residents and 84 staff at risk of contracting and spreading a potentially life-threatening disease,” and failing to provide an x-ray to a resident who tested positive for tuberculosis, putting “all residents at risk.” (DSHS Violation 2-1-23)
Infection risk: Aegis Living of Issaquah was fined by the state for “placing all residents at risk of contracting and spreading potentially life-threatening diseases” by failing to implement a required respiratory protection program. (DSHS Violation 4-27-23)
Missed medications: Aegis Living of Newcastle was fined by the state for compromising resident health by failing to provide prescribed medications in a timely manner. (DSHS Violation 11-9-21)
Infection risk: Aegis Living of Ravenna was cited by DSHS for not following local guidelines for “Droplet Precautions for Influenza Outbreak Infection Control” (April 2022), employing a caregiver with an expired license (April 2023), and not protecting a resident from harassment from another resident (November 2022).
Missed medications: Aegis Living of Seattle (Queen Anne, Galer),was fined by the state for putting a diabetic resident at risk by failing to coordinate with the resident’s doctor about insulin injections and blood sugar monitoring. (DSHS Violation 11-13-23)
Tuberculosis risk: Aegis Living of Seattle (Queen Anne, Rodgers Park), which was fined multiple times for putting “97 residents at risk” by failing to provide CPR training and failing to test staff for tuberculosis. (DSHS Violation 4-5-23)
Unsafe lifting: Aegis Living of Seattle (Queen Anne, Galer) was fined by the state for among other things not providing adequate training and supervision while lifting and moving residents. (Washington State Department of Labor & Industries Investigation 2023)
Understaffing, Poverty Wages, Safety Among Caregiver Concerns At Aegis Living
Aegis Living has been fined, accused, and sued multiple times for serious labor and workplace safety violations by its own staff.
Understaffing: Multiple anonymous caregiver reviews on Indeed and GlassDoor give Aegis Living low scores due in part to “chronic staff issues,” “rampant understaffing,” which experts say puts residents and staff at risk.
High staff turnover according to Aegis Living’s caregivers, who say they make far less than Seattle’s living wage, contributing to “high turnover rate, so less experienced employees are training even less experienced employees.” Aegis Living’s job postings for a medication manager and a caregiver show Dwayne Clark pays just pennies over minimum wage, and below very low income levels for a single parent - making many Aegis Living caregivers eligible for government assistance for housing, healthcare, and food.
Wage theft: A class action lawsuit filed by caregivers says Aegis violated California’s fraudulent business practices rules. One caregiver sued Aegis for keeping hundreds of dollars off of her paychecks, paying her “roughly $5.82 per hour” instead of her pay rate of $17 per hour.
High staff turnover according to Aegis Living’s caregivers, who say they make far less than Seattle’s living wage, contributing to “high turnover rate, so less experienced employees are training even less experienced employees.”
Bloodborne disease risks: Aegis of Seattle (Queen Anne, Galer) received a $16,200 fine from OSHA in 2023 for, among other violations, failing to protect workers and residents from “exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials… putting employees at risk of contracting bloodborne diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and other infectious diseases reasonably expected to cause chronic illness or death.” (Washington State Department of Labor & Industries Investigation 2023)
Amputation: Aegis Living of Bellevue received a serious violation when a worker “suffered an amputation type cut injury” in 2022. A WA state investigation found that Aegis Living failed to provide workers with proper protective equipment (PPE) and safety training. (WA State Department of Labor & Industries Investigation 2022)
Coercive surveillance and retaliation: Aegis was fined $53,451 by the National Labor Relations Board after caregivers in Seattle filed complaints against Aegis multiple times for unwarranted and illegal “Coercive Actions (Surveillance)” and “Retaliation, Discharge, Discipline.”
Amputation hazards: Aegis Living of Mercer Island was found to have multiple serious failures to protect workers from “amputation hazards.” (WA State Department of Labor & Industries Investigation 2023) This facility also received a $10,000 OSHA fine in 2022 for failing to train and protect workers on using dangerous equipment.
Union busting: Aegis Living is currently paying Morgan Lewis, “one of the largest and most expensive” union busting law firms to, unsuccessfully, stop staff from forming a union with SEIU 775.
Unfair Labor Practice Complaints filed by SEIU 775 on behalf of Aegis staff at the Ravenna, South Lake Union, and Greenwood Aegis facilities include:
Threatening and unfairly disciplining staff who are active in their union (ULP Complaint 6-29-2023, ULP Complaint 19-CA-326181, ULP Complaint 19-CA-327531)
Firing staff in retaliation for talking to union organizers (ULP Complaint 19-CA-348000)
Refusing to give annual raises to Aegis Living staff and blaming their union (ULP complaint 19-CA-339644)
Implying surveillance of Aegis Living workers (ULP Complaint 19-CA-339644)
Interfering with Aegis Living workers’ rights to collectively bargain (ULP Complaint 4-04-2023, ULP Complaint 7-10-24), including interrogation and retaliation threats (ULP Complaint 6-29-2023).
Unwarranted termination of Aegis Living staff active in their union (ULP 19-CA-331268)
*The Department of Safety & Health (DOSH) investigation files 317974107 and 317970052 involve an industrial catastrophe, serious injury, or fatality and are confidential per Washington State law, Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 49.17.260.