Billionaires Are Gouging Your Grandparents

Posted by Brave New Films, Brave New Films at 8:31 AM on July 8, 2008.

Just how is buyout billionaire Bruce Wasserstein gouging our country's elderly? Let's connect the dots: Wasserstein is the CEO of Lazard and has made billions by buying companies, cutting costs, and turning quick profits. Lazard owns and manages Atria Senior Living—the third largest assisted-living provider in the U.S.—as a private equity investment. Atria has been mismanaging its facilities left and right, making medication mistakes, wrongly locking in residents, and even failing to call emergency services.

What is Atria's response? The company slapped residents on a fixed income with steep rent increases to as much as $8,500 per month. What's more, Atria pays its staff a measly average of $8-10 an hour with unaffordable healthcare, while Wasserstein made $41 million in 2007 alone. That's right, Wasserstein is getting rich off our nation's grandmas and grandpas, a gross injustice that we have exposed in our newest video, Bruce Wasserstein: Gouging Grandma.

We have joined the SEIU to demand that Wasserstein stop gouging our grandparents and respect its employees. Here's what you can do:

* Sign the petition from Campaign to Improve Assisted Living and Tell Bruce Wasserstein to Stop Gouging Seniors.

* E-mail this video and the petition to all your friends, family members, and coworkers.

* Spread the word on sites like Digg, which will help create a public outcry to pressure Wasserstein and Lazard.

Make sure everyone knows we won't stand for Wasserstein's despicable behavior, and make sure it happens today.

Tagged as: seniors, bruce wasserstein, buyout billionaires