Filipino Nurses Indicted for Abandoning Their Patients
10
Filipino nurses are currently under indictment in Suffolk County, New York on
charges of endangering the welfare of five chronically ill children and one
terminally ill man for quitting their jobs at the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation
and Health Care Center in Smithtown in April 2006 without providing sufficient
notice.
These 10 were among a total of 26 Filipino nurses and a physical therapist who
resigned from their jobs based on what the nurses describe as poor working
conditions. If convicted, the 10
defendants could each receive a sentence of one year in jail and revocation of
their nursing licenses.
Filipinos in the US and abroad have rallied to support the 10 nurses, along with
the American Nurses Association, which has stated that patients are endangered
when their nurses have to work in “deplorable conditions”.
In November 2005, 22 Filipino nurses were brought over to the US to work in New
York for SentosaCare, a network of 24 nursing homes with over 5,000 patients and
5,000 employees. The nurses were
promised salaries equal to that of American employees and green cards.
However, the nurses allege they were being paid far below
the salaries earned by their American colleagues, they were not working in the
locations they had been promised and it took longer than they had been told for
them to receive their green cards. Additionally,
the nurses claim they did not receive the same health insurance and workers’
compensation benefits as the American nurses.
SentosaCare's attorneys denied that the nurses were mistreated or shortchanged.
The company claims that it successfully employed over 350 Filipino nurses
over the years without such complaints and resignations.
The nurses allege their complaints were not addressed by their employer and that
is why they contacted the Philippines consulate in New York. The consulate put
them in touch with an immigration lawyer. Their
attorney declared that their contracts had been breached and filed a
discrimination complaint with immigration officials in April 2006.
He also advised the nurses to quit their jobs at SentosaCare.
In
early April 2006, 24 nurses in five different SentosaCare homes resigned.
They say they offered little notice to their resignations for fear that
SentosaCare would bring charges against them that could jeopardize their
licenses.
However, the nurses say they were sure the patients would be cared for because
they knew of Filipino nurses in the US waiting for assignment in two SentosaCare
staff houses. According to the nurses and their lawyers, only one of the 10
indicted nurses who worked in the Avalon, New York home was working at the time
of the resignations and only two nurses were scheduled for 7 a.m. shifts.
Other nurses had as many as four days off at the time of the
resignations.
After the resignations, SentosaCare filed a civil suit charging the nurses with
breach of contract and lodged a complaint with the New York Department of
Education, who issues nursing licenses for the State of New York. The nurses
filed complaints against SentosaCare's recruiting arm in the Philippines, and
the Filipino government suspended the company's recruiting privileges.
In June 2006, the Filipino recruiting suspension was removed.
In September 2006, after two hearings, the New York Department of
Education rejected SentosaCare's charge that the nurses had abandoned patients.
However, in March 2007, the district attorney received a grand jury indictment,
which also charged the nurses' lawyer with conspiring in the resignations. The
case is scheduled to begin in March 2008.
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