The mother of an autistic man who lived in an East Islip group home operated by Garden City nonprofit Life’s WORC sued the organization this week, alleging he endured years of abuse and overmedication at the facility.

The suit alleges that the man, identified only as J.P., was subjected to "physical assaults, emotional abuse, chronic overmedication so that staff could avoid ‘dealing’ with his disabilities, willful neglect and institutional cover-ups by both staff and upper-level management."

Staff falsified medical records to permit dosages of medicine for J.P. that were so high he was kept in a drooling "zombielike" state, kicked and punched him and tied his shirtsleeves, like a straitjacket, to restrain him, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also says staff sometimes slept or went to their cars to smoke marijuana when they should have been caring for the home’s residents.

The suit, filed in federal court, does not specify desired damages,other than to say they exceed $150,000. It names as defendants eight Life’s WORC staffers and managers as well as the organization itself, alleging negligence, negligent supervision, assault and battery by some of the staffers, discrimination in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and violations to the state’s human rights law.

A representative for Life’s WORC, Danny Frank,sent a statement that said Life’s WORC "is very proud of its excellent reputation, service and care for this community and ...  we categorically deny any allegation of wrongdoing and withhold further comment for the moment rather than engage in speculative accusations."

For fiscal 2024, the last year for which tax filings were available, the agency had a staff of 1,313 and a $66 million budget. Residential support, the largest segment of its work, included care for 282 people in 45 homes across Long Island and New York City. 

Ilann Maazel, a lawyer for Manhattan firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel who filed the suit on behalf of the man’s mother, identified only as V.T., said that J.P. had participated in a Life’s WORC day program until recently but moved out of the East Islip facility. The suit said in Sept. 25, 2024, J.P. was moved to a different residential home run by a different organization.

Maazel and another lawyer from the firm said that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and police had been notified about allegations in the lawsuit. Tania Lopez, a spokeswoman for Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, said in an email, "We have an open investigation ... We do not comment on the substance of investigations until complete."

Suffolk police declined to comment on pending litigation. Eric Abrams, another lawyer for the mother, said in an email, said they believe police were "aware of but not able to track down Bryan Amegah," a onetime Life’s WORC staffer.

According to the lawsuit filed this week, Amegah in February 2023 kicked J.P. in the waist hard enough to knock him into a chair, an act that was captured on video.

In June 2023, News 12 aired that video footage, citing a source that said the employee involved had been fired. 

The lawsuit filed this week comes after a 2019 episode at the East Islip home in which a different residentfractured his neck after allegedly being forced to run naked on a treadmill. In 2020, in connection with that case, former Life’s WORC staffer Richard Garnett was convicted in Suffolk District Court of endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the second degree and was sentenced to 3 years' probation and given a 5-year order of protection for the victim.

In filings respondingto a lawsuit by the man's family, a lawyer for Life's WORC denied the allegations, saying the agency had acted lawfully and in accordance with "prevailing standards," and that Garnett had acted outside the scope of his employment. That suit was settled in 2024. 

In 2023, parents of a Queens man sued Life's WORC for breach of duty, malpractice, negligence resulting in personal injury, physical abuse and emotional distress after he sustained a series of injuries in 2020 at a Rosedale, Queens, home operated by the agency and in 2021 was sent home for Christmas unconscious. According to that lawsuit, staff told the parents he might have been "tired." In fact, according to the lawsuit, he had pneumonia. In court filings, a lawyer for Life's WORC denied the allegations. That suit is ongoing, according to court records.

The lawsuit filed this week alleges that Life’s WORC fired two staffers named as defendants, residential manager Tiffany LaBoy and assistant residential manager Vanessa Dominguez, but kept on another, senior vice president of residential services Andrea DiVita. It promoted Ayodele Adewunmi, allegedly "instrumental in the cover-up" of that abuse, "as a reward for his loyalty," the suit said.

Maazel said thatpromotion and other alleged actions by Life’s WORC management were cause for continued concern about the organization.

"This home and this nonprofit have got a serious problem," he said.

Life's WORC staffers named as defendants could not be reached or did not respond to messages.

Jennifer O’Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, which is responsible for coordinating services for New Yorkers with developmental disabilities, said she could not comment on litigation, but that the agency works "closely with law enforcement to ensure allegations of abuse and neglect are fully investigated."

Erin Hogan, a spokeswoman for Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs, a state agency charged with protecting New Yorkers with special needs from abuse or neglect, said in an email: "All allegations of abuse or neglect reported to the Justice Center are thoroughly investigated to conclusion. Any allegation with an element of criminality is promptly referred to the relevant law enforcement and District Attorney’s office for further investigation. Information on pending cases is protected by law."