Filipino nurses, prosecuted for quitting NY jobs, file federal lawsuit
By APFriday, January 8, 2010
NY nurses, prosecuted for quitting, file lawsuit
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Ten nurses cleared last year of misdemeanors for quitting their jobs at a New York nursing home have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.
The nurses were recruited from the Philippines to help ease a staffing shortage in the U.S. They were hired to work at Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center on Long Island but resigned in 2006 because of working conditions.
Prosecutors claimed they endangered sick patients. But a state appellate court ruled the prosecution was unconstitutional.
The case made headlines in Manila. Hearings were held in 2007 in the Philippine congress.
The lawsuit names the nursing home and prosecutors as defendants. A nursing home attorney and the Suffolk County attorney didn’t immediately comment.
