A Gresham family is suing Cascadia Health for $51.01 million, accusing the Portland-area nonprofit of failing to protect 26-year-old mental-health worker Haley Rogers before she was stabbed to death during an overnight shift at its McCarthy Place group home in July 2023.
The wrongful-death complaint, filed Monday, July 20, 2026, in Multnomah County Circuit Court, claims Cascadia failed to boost staffing levels, install surveillance cameras or provide workers with two-way radios before the killing. The lawsuit names Cascadia Health as the sole defendant and seeks to hold the agency responsible for what the family describes as repeated safety lapses, according to OregonLive.
The suit breaks out its demand this way: $50,000,000 for Rogers’ conscious pain and suffering, $500,000 for loss of companionship and $500,000 for intentional misconduct. It also seeks $10,000 for funeral expenses, bringing the total requested award to about $51.01 million, according to the court filing.
Criminal case and commitment
Rogers’ death led to a criminal case against resident James Calvin Smith. Gresham police arrested Smith, and he was later found guilty except for insanity on charges that included second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. A press release from the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office says a judge ordered Smith confined to the Oregon State Hospital under the authority of the Psychiatric Security Review Board for a lifetime term.
State investigators flagged safety gaps
After the killing, Oregon Occupational Safety and Health investigators evaluated conditions at McCarthy Place and levied a $7,250 penalty. Their review found several problems, including single-person overnight staffing, a lack of cameras and panic alarms, and a kitchen drawer that inspectors said could be pried open with a metal spatula to reach knives. Cascadia told investigators it had since budgeted for safety upgrades, hired a safety administrator, updated cameras and moved to two-person overnight shifts, according to reporting based on inspection documents by The Lund Report.
What happens next
The wrongful-death suit remains pending in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Cascadia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OregonLive, which first reported the filing. The complaint also alleges the facility recorded 16 assaults on staff between March and July 2023 and that Rogers had urged supervisors to install surveillance cameras and an emergency alert system before she was killed.
