FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2008

AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION FILES AMICUS BRIEF
Legal Action in Support of Sentosa Nurses

     SILVER SPRING, MD – In a strong show of support for the Sentosa nurses, today The American Nurses Association and its affiliate, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), today filed an amicus brief with the New York State Supreme Court supporting a motion to drop criminal charges against the group of Filipino registered nurses charged with patient endangerment after resigning their positions.
     These nurses committed no crime, and this improper prosecution, if continued, sets a dangerous precedent for all health care professionals. Registered nurses and other health care professionals will be afraid to quit their jobs, or cooperate with others with respect to leaving a negative work environment. ANA believes these nurses did not act in an unprofessional manner or abandon their patients, and in fact, they resigned, in part, over abysmal staffing levels; their having done so is consistent with their ethical obligations. ANA opposes the criminalization of RN’s’ actions that are most appropriately viewed through the lens of professional standards or civil liability,” remarked ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR.
     These nurses aren’t criminals – they’re heroes,” said Barbara Crane, RN, president of the NYSNA Delegate Assembly. “They refused to give in to an employer that tried to force them to work in unsafe patient care conditions. As persons of great integrity, they had the courage to speak up on behalf of their patients and nurses everywhere. For this, they are being unfairly hounded by the county prosecutor.”
     ANA has been a strong supporter of the Sentosa nurses, who say they were brought to New York under false pretenses and denied the rights guaranteed by their employment contract. When the nurses resigned, their employer accused them of professional misconduct before the state Office of Professional Discipline, which dismissed the charges. A more recent report by the New York State Department of Health also found no evidence of patient harm resulting from the nurses’ action. Regardless of these findings, in March 2007 ten of the RNs were indicted in Suffolk County Supreme Court on charges of endangering their patients, all pled not guilty. The nurses had been recruited by the Sentosa Recruitment Agency to work at specific nursing home facilities on Long Island. When they arrived in the U.S., they discovered they actually were working for a staffing agency, Prompt Nurses Employment Agency. Over a period of months, the nurses said, the agency refused to pay them according to the terms of their contracts. They also said they were not properly trained for their new jobs and were required to care for more patients than they believed were safe. # # #

     The ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

CONTACT:
Mary McNamara, 301-628-5198
mary.mcnamara@ana.org
Mary Stewart 301-628-5038
mary.stewart@ana.org
www.nursingworld.org/rnrealnews/

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April 14, 2008

Reference: Fr. Ben Alforque, President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), email: nafconusa@yahoo.com

NAFCON Claims Victory for the Avalon 11
Appellate Division Should Dismiss Criminal Case, Fil-Ams Demand

The recent ruling of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court issuing an order staying the Criminal Prosecution of the Avalon 11 (10 former Sentosa nurses and their lawyer) marks a victory for the Filipino community-based campaign for justice for the former Sentosa 27++ nurses. The community campaign was spearheaded and led throughout by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, or NAFCON, a national alliance of Filipino organizations in over 23 cities in the United States.

From the beginning, despite doubts flung from all sides, NAFCON stood firm in its belief that the Sentosa 27 nurses, and those 11 criminally-indicted by Sentosa's legal team, had the truth on their side. This truth, the moral bankruptcy of the illegal recruitment scheme of SentosaCare LLC and its owner, Bent Philipson, has been the iron shield for all the Sentosa 27 nurses.

The Avalon 11 embody the courage of all the world's Davids that can beat the world's Goliaths if they believe in themselves and are organized. They faced criminal charges of patient endangerment after resigning from the Sentosa-owned Avalon Gardens in Long Island. Although the right to resignation is a basic worker's right protected by the United States Constitution, the unscrupulous Sentosa camp sought revenge to cover up its criminal human trafficking activities and build public opinion against the victimized nurses. They even attempted to buy-off the Suffolk County Court System by having closed-door meetings with Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota.

After much community pressure led by the Avalon 11 and NAFCON to dismiss the charges as invalid, since no Avalon patient was put in danger, legal advocates for the Avalon 11 filed a writ of prohibition with the Appellate Division, on the basis that the Suffolk County Court System does not have legal jurisdiction over the case. Since the case is a basic labor dispute, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has exclusive jurisdiction over it. State criminal action is preempted by federal law.

Amicus briefs submitted by SEIU Local 1199 and two bar association firmly supported the prohibition petition.

The Appellate Division's stay on the criminal prosecution case will mean the scheduled April 28th trial in Suffolk County will not push through. Oral arguments on the criminal petition will begin in May, and there is much demand that the Appellate Division dismiss the case all together by granting the writ of prohibition.

NAFCON views the seizing of jurisdiction of the criminal case from the Suffolk County Court System's hand as a major step towards victory for the Avalon 11 nurses. It is no secret that the Suffolk County Court System has been corrupted by the Sentosa camp and is ridden with anti-immigrant sentiment. It joins the broader public in demanding that the Appellate Division dismiss that case all together. ###