Brookdale Senior Living used an algorithm called 'Service Alignment' to determine staffing levels at its 652 assisted-living facilities, which systematically understaffed facilities leading to inadequate care and multiple resident deaths including Louise Walker who died after being left unattended.
Brookdale Senior Living, the largest operator of senior homes with 652 facilities, implemented an algorithm-based staffing system called 'Service Alignment' across all properties between 2013-2016. The system used stopwatch timing studies of caregiving tasks to calculate minimum staffing requirements. Multiple facility managers complained the algorithm underestimated labor needs and failed to account for the complexities of caring for elderly residents with dementia and other conditions. In civil lawsuits in Tennessee and California, residents and families alleged that algorithmic understaffing led to neglect, injuries, and deaths. One specific case involved Louise Walker, 89, who died in December 2020 after falling and being left unattended for 2 hours and 40 minutes at Brookdale Southpoint in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility had only two caregivers for over a dozen memory care residents that night. State investigators cited Brookdale for medical neglect in Walker's death. The algorithm forced many facilities to reduce staff, and managers who scheduled additional workers faced corrective action and bonus reductions. Expert analysis of seven North Carolina facilities found all failed to meet state staffing minimums during at least 10% of shifts from 2016-2022.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed