US court clears Sentosa nurses
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 01/17/2009 6:02 PM
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A United States court has dismissed charges filed against 10 Filipino nurses who mass resigned from a health care center in New York.
Lawyer Salvador Uy, the nurses' legal counsel, said the court affirmed the US court affirmed the position of the nurses and labor lawyer Felix Vinluan that they cannot be prosecuted for resigning en masse because it is a form of speech.
"The appellate court ruled that -- in the first place -- the ten nurses and Vinluan filed a writ of prohibition asking the court not to proceed with the prosecution upon the grounds that this violates the freedom of speech in relation to a labor dispute. The ruling of the court says precisely that," Tuy said.
The Second Division of the Court of New York's Appelate Court on Friday ruled for the acquittal of ten Filipino nurses who resigned from the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Center last April 2006. The court said the charges against them "constitute an impermissible infringement upon constitutional rights."
As a result, Suffolk District Atty. Thomas Spota -- who won indictments against the nurses and Vinluan -- was prohibited from prosecuting the case.
On Mar. 22, 2007, Sentosa charged the Filipino nurses of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children and disabled patients for resigning en masse. The said charge carried hefty fines and up to six years of imprisonment.
The Filipino health workers were among the 27 nurses who resigned from Sentosa, which was said to have breached employment agreements and made employees work under intolerable conditions
With the criminal case cleared, Tuy said all that's left is a pending civil case filed by Sentosa for breach of contract. He said the charge may have been filed with the sole intention of stalling more resignations.
"In the Sentosa case, there's a pattern here in filing the case just to deter the other nurses still working for Sentosa from resigning. If you are aware, it's a three year contract. All that the lawsuit seeks to achieve is just to delay the ruling so these nurses will be able to complete the three year contracts. I think that's all they want. So the civil cases are still languishing," he said.
Tuy announced that a trial conference regarding the case will be held on Thursday, January 22.
"After that, we expect both parties to file summary judgments. I don't think they want to try this case," he said. With reports from Ging Reyes and Lenn Thornhill, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
