A federal administrative law judge has determined that a Bradenton behavioral healthcare center and its management company exposed workers to more than 50 attacks in a two-and-a-half-year period when residents kicked, punched, bit, scratched, pulled and used desk scissors as a weapon, and that both entities deserve to be sanctioned for destroying surveillance videos showing this workplace violence. In a 170-page decision, US Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge Dennis Phillips found UHS of Delaware Inc. — a hospital management company — and Premier Behavioral Health Solutions of Florida Inc. exposed workers to workplace violence, and showed bad faith in allowing the destruction of videos that showed instances of workplace violence at the facility. Premier operates as Suncoast Behavioral Health Center in Bradenton. UHS, one of the nation’s largest healthcare service providers, manages Suncoast Behavioral and more than 300 other behavioral health facilities nationwide.
