Union sues after Sunrise refuses to rehire nurse
Sunrise Children’s Hospital has refused to rehire a nurse fired in connection with a 2010 baby death despite an arbitrator’s ruling that she should be reinstated with back pay, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the nurse’s union.
Filed in U.S. District Court by Service Employees International Union Local 1107, the lawsuit charges that “on or about January 13, 2012 Sunrise announced that it would refuse to comply” with the decision of arbitrator Paul Staudohar, who found that Sunrise lacked just cause to terminate Jessica Rice.
The lawsuit charges that Sunrise must hire Rice back under the terms of the National Labor Relations Act.
Kathleen Jones, an attorney for Rice, was upset Tuesday with the Sunrise stance on rehiring Rice. “It’s a shame that we’ve had to do this, but Sunrise is not adhering to terms of the collective bargaining agreement,” Jones said.
Sunrise spokesman Dan Davidson did not respond to calls from the Review-Journal either at his office or on his cellphone Tuesday evening.
In January, Davidson said that hospital officials had reviewed the arbitrator’s decision and that “we respect the arbitration process.” He also said the hospital continues “to assist as Metro conducts its investigation.”
The results of a police investigation into how catheters came apart in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, killing one child and severely injuring another, have been sent to the Clark County district attorney’s office.
Rice and another fired nurse, Sharon Ochoa-Reyes, had been called persons of interest by the Metropolitan Police Department in a criminal investigation into “intentional patient harm.”
Authorities have refused to say what connected the nurses to “intentional patient harm.”
The death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County coroner.
No criminal charges have been filed in the July 2, 2010, death of 2-month-old Miowne Obote, whose catheter was severed.
After the nurses were fired, the Nevada State Nursing Board summarily suspended their licenses. But in September 2010, the board, ruling that no evidence showed the nurses did anything wrong, reinstated the licenses of the nurses. So far, Sunrise has refused to rehire either nurse.
The results of the tests done on Sunrise catheter lines at a federal laboratory are being weighed by prosecutors.
Ochoa-Reyes told the Review Journal in November 2010 that nurses had been having problems with catheters breaking for months.
No one paid attention to the breakage until babies got hurt, she said.
Her attorney, George Kelesis, has said the hospital pointed at nurses to cover up long-standing problems with product failure and to limit the institution’s liability.
An arbitrator’s ruling is expected later this month in Ochoa-Reyes firing.
Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.
