Murder In NJ Psychiatric Hospital Linked To Hostile Work Environment: Lawsuit

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ — The working conditions at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital caused mass resignations and endangered patients, culminating in a murder within the facility, according to a lawsuit from its former chief of psychiatry. The doctor faced the brunt of the hostile work environment when hospital leadership retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment and blowing the whistle on Greystone's dangers, the complaint claims.

Defendants in the lawsuit, filed Jan. 31, include the Greystone Hospital, the New Jersey Department of Health and several supervisors and administrators from when plaintiff Dr. Margarita Gormus worked there.

A spokesperson for the state health department told Patch that the agency doesn't comment on lawsuits.

Danger at Greystone

Gormus warned of and predicted mass resignations from Greystone in 2018, according to the lawsuit. She attributed the resignations to Medical Director Dr. Evaristo Akerele's disregard for the work environment's bylaws and his "bullying and disrespect of other psychiatrists," court documents say.

The shortage of psychiatrists resulted in patients and staff risking and suffering from dangerous situations and violence, according to the lawsuit.

Gormus, who began at Greystone in 2014, worked with a patient in September 2018 who needed one-on-one observation to prevent herself from harming herself or others. Akerele ordered the patient's one-on-one care to stop, without informing Gormus, the lawsuit claims.

In less than an hour, the patient swallowed six pieces of a broken boombox antenna and spent eight weeks recovering at Morristown Medical Center, according to the complaint.

About a year later, Gormus cared for someone who other patients with violent criminal histories deemed a "snitch," the lawsuit says. Greystone previously provided one-on-one care to protect the patient — identified as "SS" in the complaint — from violent reprisal, according to court documents.

Greystone scheduled a transfer for SS to a different part of the hospital in December 2019, on a day Gormus had work off. Akerele changed the order to transfer SS somewhere else in the facility and discontinued the patient's one-on-one care, according to the lawsuit.

Akerele's last-minute changes caused "great confusion" among doctors, nurses and support staff, the complaint says. The disarray allowed another patient — identified as RD in the lawsuit — to take SS into his room and murder him, according to court documents.

Rashid Davis killed the patient with an X-Acto knife on Dec. 31, 2019, according to his affidavit of arrest. Davis was charged with first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

When Gormus returned to work, she told Akerele that the "murder could have been avoided if you listened to me and my clinical judgment," the lawsuit says.

Claims of Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

In 2018, Akerele made inappropriate advances toward Gormus and expressed personal feelings toward her during physician meetings, according to the complaint. Other staff and doctors even became aware of the "unwanted and inappropriate attention," the lawsuit says.

Akerele often told Gormus to meet him at the end of the workday, according to court documents. During those meetings, he spoke about his girlfriends and showed Gormus pictures of them, the lawsuit claims. When showing the pictures, Akerele stood close to Gormus and put his arm around her shoulder, the complaint states.

In June, Gormus reported to then-Greystone CEO Teresa McQuaide that several hospital units didn't have psychiatrists because of a labor shortage, creating danger for patients and staff, the lawsuits says. Gormus wanted McQuaide to ask Akerele for help with the patient load, according to the complaint.

When Akerele became aware of the request, he threatened Gormus, saying "I will punish you," the lawsuit claims.

Gormus got permission from the CEO to hold an emergency meeting of all Greystone psychiatrists to address the "chaotic coverage" of all units and dangerous conditions Akelele created, according to court documents. Akerele walked in and abruptly canceled the meeting, telling Gormus, "You are a drama queen, there is no emergency," the lawsuit says.

Gormus already cared for 26 patients, but Akerele continued retaliating against her by assigning the doctor an additional 26 patients in a different unit, the complaint states. No other psychiatrist cared for this many patients, and assigning Gormus to two units violated medical guidelines, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff later suffered from burnout because of "impossible working conditions," and her doctor recommended she take four weeks of medical leave, the lawsuit says. After returning in November, Gormus filed a complaint against Akerele for sexual harassment, the complaint says. Investigators found her allegations unsubstantiated, the lawsuit says.

Upon Gormus's return, Akerele removed Gormus from geriatrics and gave her a "forced assignment" in the forensic unit, according to the complaint. He also had Gormus work with Krol patients — people found guilty by reason of insanity — which gave her more patients than any psychiatrist in the hospital, the lawsuit says. The duties also required Gormus to attend Krol hearings throughout New Jersey.

By April 2019, Gormus cared for more than 45 patients — the hospital's "most violent, dangerous and difficult to manage," according to the lawsuit.

The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender filed a class-action lawsuit against Greystone and the state health department in June 2019. The Office described Greystone as an environment where “patients live in a constant state of fear, knowing that staff cannot protect them,” and "doctors cannot treat violent patients because Greystone has inadequate security measures and individuals capable of protecting Greystone staff and patients.”

Gormus made statements to the public defender's office criticizing Greystone, which contributed to the filing of the lawsuit. The class-action lawsuit ended with a settlement in November 2020, resulting in the creation of an Oversight Committee to oversee Greystone's enforcement and implementation of the settlement's terms.

Before Gormus sued Greystone, she testified to the committee last September about some of the incidents described in her lawsuit. Greystone subjected her to a disciplinary hearing the next month and suspended her for 45 days without pay, the complaint says.

Her suspension came as retaliation for whistleblowing, according to the lawsuit.

Defendants in the lawsuit also include Greystone CEO Tomika Carter, Employee Relations Officer James L. Frey and Chief of Psychiatry Dr. Ijeoma J. Hassan. Gormus seeks unspecified damages and reinstatement to a Greystone position with comparable pay, benefits, seniority and responsibility.

The lawsuit — filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Morristown —demands a jury trial.

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