ONTARIO, Calif., Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Registered Nurses and a clinical operations manager filed a complaint in Superior Court of San Bernardino for compensatory damages and an order for West Coast University to comply with COVID-19 guidelines set forth by the CDC, the local authorities, and the hospitals where the University conducts clinical rotations.
The plaintiffs complained regarding noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines after coronavirus exposure at Desert Regional Medical Center's labor and delivery department, Victor Valley Global Medical Center, Riverside University Health System, according to court records.
Plaintiffs raised noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines to their immediate superiors and their local human resources personnel. In response, their immediate superiors including the Director of Nursing retaliated against Plaintiffs in terms and conditions of their employment, including creating fraudulent documents under Plaintiffs' names, according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs escalated their complaints of noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines and their superiors' conduct to Campus Executive Director Mitch Thomas, the Executive Chairman of the Board, David Pyle, and the co-president and CEO, Sandy Pham. West Coast University did not address any of Plaintiffs' complaints, instead concealed its noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines from local hospitals and from Plaintiffs preventing them from notifying the hospitals, according to the Complaint.
Beginning May 2020 through July 2020, West Coast University required Plaintiffs and their family members to participate as fake telehealth patients under aliases for West Coast University nursing students to obtain clinical hours, according to the Complaint. The purpose of the clinical hours for nursing students is for the nursing students to work with actual patients. Plaintiffs and their family members were not actual patients. The Board of Nursing reprimanded West Coast University for this practice, however, the University continued it. Plaintiffs complained regarding this practice to the University's leadership: Dean of Nursing Robyn Nelson, Director of Clinical Relations Cheryl Rojas, and Director of Nursing Leigh Holley. The leadership ignored Plaintiffs' concerns and mandated them to comply. This directive was extended to associates, faculty, and leadership, according to court records.
West Coast University targeted these three employees on nearly daily basis: changing their work assignments, refusing to respond to their emails, yelling at them, ignoring their concerns, and failing to investigate their complaints of noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines, as alleged in the action. Realizing that Plaintiffs will not stop escalating COVID-19 guidelines noncompliance, on December 4, 2020, West Coast University terminated Miracle Hart, Vinisha Pithia, and Traci Williams's employment without ever correcting the problem, the lawsuit states.
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SOURCE Stephan Filip PC
