Registered nurses in New York’s Capital Region are beginning to receive settlement payouts from a successful class action lawsuit, helping to ensure fair compensation for nurses and safer staffing and higher quality of care for patients.
The class action lawsuit alleged that five Capital Region hospitals violated federal antitrust laws by conspiring to suppress nurse wages.1199SEIU and the SEIU Nurse Alliance helped conduct the original research, laying the foundation for the suit. They also supported the plaintiffs and the litigation throughout the process. On March 29, payouts averaging $1,730 started to be distributed to 3,277 RNs in the region.
The settlement is significant in light of numerous studies which document that the nurse shortage is due in part to wage suppression by employers, and that short-staffing has a negative impact on quality of care.
“These settlement payouts are a victory for registered nurses and for patients,” said Norma Amsterdam, RN, 1199SEIU Executive Vice President for the RN Division. “The checks will help compensate these hard-working nurses, and the settlement will have an even larger effect on the overall quality of healthcare in the area. We have helped ensure that all registered nurses are compensated fairly, and that means there will be better recruitment and retention of qualified staff, safer staffing and ultimately higher quality of care for patients.”
“Laying the foundation for this class action lawsuit was part of our role as industry watchdogs and leading patient advocates,” said 1199SEIU President George Gresham. “We put employers on notice that they will be held accountable to nurses, caregivers, communities and patients.”
The suit alleged that Albany Medical Center, Ellis Health, Northeast Health, Seton Health and St. Peter’s Health shared confidential registered nurse wage information and conspired to suppress registered nurse wages during the period of June 20, 2002 through June 20, 2006. The settlements from each employer were pooled in an escrow account.The Albany area class action suit was part of a national effort to address the registered nurse shortage, and similar lawsuits were launched in Detroit, Chicago, San Antonio and Memphis.
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The class action lawsuit alleged that five Capital Region hospitals violated federal antitrust laws by conspiring to suppress nurse wages.1199SEIU and the SEIU Nurse Alliance helped conduct the original research, laying the foundation for the suit. They also supported the plaintiffs and the litigation throughout the process. On March 29, payouts averaging $1,730 started to be distributed to 3,277 RNs in the region.
The settlement is significant in light of numerous studies which document that the nurse shortage is due in part to wage suppression by employers, and that short-staffing has a negative impact on quality of care.
“These settlement payouts are a victory for registered nurses and for patients,” said Norma Amsterdam, RN, 1199SEIU Executive Vice President for the RN Division. “The checks will help compensate these hard-working nurses, and the settlement will have an even larger effect on the overall quality of healthcare in the area. We have helped ensure that all registered nurses are compensated fairly, and that means there will be better recruitment and retention of qualified staff, safer staffing and ultimately higher quality of care for patients.”
“Laying the foundation for this class action lawsuit was part of our role as industry watchdogs and leading patient advocates,” said 1199SEIU President George Gresham. “We put employers on notice that they will be held accountable to nurses, caregivers, communities and patients.”
The suit alleged that Albany Medical Center, Ellis Health, Northeast Health, Seton Health and St. Peter’s Health shared confidential registered nurse wage information and conspired to suppress registered nurse wages during the period of June 20, 2002 through June 20, 2006. The settlements from each employer were pooled in an escrow account.The Albany area class action suit was part of a national effort to address the registered nurse shortage, and similar lawsuits were launched in Detroit, Chicago, San Antonio and Memphis.
RELATED STORIES
» Local hospital nurses victorious in class-action lawsuit against wage fixing
» Albany, NY area nurses receive settlement checks from wage dispute
» Nurses receive payout from suit
» Nurses claim victory over wage-fixing in New York, Michigan Read more: Nurses claim victory over wage-fixing in New York
» Albany, N.Y., nurses get payments
