Learn how Lazard-affiliated Atria Senior Living squeezes profits from vulnerable seniors...
Gouging Grandma: Billionaire Bruce Wasserstein
Bruce Wasserstein is the chairman and chief executive officer of Lazard, Ltd. and Lazard Group. He buys companies, cuts costs, and drives up their value—often for a quick profit at the expense of customers, consumers and workers. He is worth more than $2 billion.
Gouging Grandma: Billionaire Bruce Wasserstein", from Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films
Read the The New York Post article, “Union Slams Lazard Over Elder Care”.
Vulnerable old people can make you rich.
A Lazard affiliated company, Lazard Real Estate Partners, took over Atria, the third-largest assisted living provider in the United States. Since then, Atria has come under fire recently for skyrocketing rent increases, reprimands from government agencies for poor health and labor practices, and a series of troubling incidents at facilities across the country. There have been shocking reports about medication mistakes, improperly locking in residents, and failing to call emergency services after a resident slipped and fell. For this, many residents on fixed incomes have been slapped with enormous rent increases. Some now pay as much as $8,500-a-month.
Send this petition to: Bruce Wasserstein
I'm adding my name to the petition calling on Bruce Wasserstein and Lazard to take responsibility for Atria Senior Living. It's time to FIX the problems with skyrocketing rents, low worker pay and poor benefits, staffing shortages, and resident care problems.
Stop hiding behind complicated corporate structures and greed. Do what is right for seniors, family members, and your employees.
More about Lazard and Atria:
Workers at Lazard’s Atria facilities have noted problems with short-staffing, high employee turnover, and inadequate training which they say contributes to care problems—all as a result of cost-cutting measures to drive up company value for Lazard’s investors. Average pay for these workers is a measly $8-$10 an hour. Workers at Lazard’s Atria also report that the costs of company-offered healthcare put insurance well beyond their reach. At the same time, Lazard Ltd's CEO Wasserstein’s pay package was $41 million in 2007 plus nearly $100 million for signing a new five-year deal.
Wasserstein and Lazard Ltd.’s managing directors could do a lot to fix Atria Senior Living. Atria is controlled by Lazard Real Estate Partners and their parent company, Lazard Alternative Investments. Wasserstein and his family own a significant share of LAI and Wasserstein has veto power over many of LAI’s major corporate decisions. Just like other Wall Street firms, Wasserstein and Lazard are using complicated corporate structures to avoid taking responsibility for problems at companies where they could make all the difference.
Federal, state and local elected leaders have called for investigations, legislation and changes to the way Atria does business in the wake of revelations about patient care and bad labor practices at the facilities.
See the press release. You can also view the Web ads online: web ad #1 and web ad #2.
Check out www.LazardUnveiled.org for more on Wasserstein, Lazard and Atria, or visit our Home Page for all the updates on the Campaign to Improve Assisted Living.