Assisted living home faces $75,000 fine for workplace death

ANCHORAGE — State labor officials have fined an Anchorage assisted living home $75,000 for alleged safety and health violations in the death of a caregiver who was killed by a resident of the home.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced the fine for Eye to Eye ALH on Wednesday. Department officials say the facility showed a “willful failure to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards” and failed “to notify the department of a workplace fatality” within eight hours of the death.

Glenna Wyllie, 57, was beaten and strangled last year while Gilbert Nashookpuk had been in her care. Nashookpuk is facing first- and second-degree murder charges in her death, Anchorage station KTUU-TV reported.

An investigation by the Department of Labor found that the assisted living home had failed to provide their employees with a safe work environment. Documents show that Eye to Eye ALH officials had been aware of the violent behaviors of the adult residents but still required Wyllie to work alone, a violation of their own care standards.

Eye to Eye ALH will have an opportunity to contest the alleged violations.

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