A Filipino nurse was awarded US$41.5 million (P2.31 billion) in damages after a Los Angeles jury found her employer guilty of wrongful termination.
Nurse Maria Gatchalian, who worked at Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills, California since 1989, was fired in 2019 after she raised concerns about unsafe working conditions.
“Maria had the courage to speak up about patient safety and chronic understaffing. Kaiser fired her in retaliation, hoping to silence her,” said Gatchalian’s lawyer, David deRubertis.
The nurse sued the hospital in 2021 that she was fired by the hospital as an act of retaliation.
Gatchalian noted that she raised concerns about understaffing and unsafe working conditions several times between 2016 and 2019.
She said the hospital management discouraged her from submitting formal complaints to avoid investigation and corrective actions.
Kaiser eventually terminated her for violating policy when she was caught resting her bare feet on a medical device meant to hold sick babies.
Kaiser, which maintained it had justly terminated Gatchalian, said it will likely appeal the verdict.
The verdict came just two months after some 75,000 Kaiser employees staged a three-day strike over working conditions.
The strike ended last month after the hospital agreed to a new contract that includes across-the-board wage increases, an increased payout for employees under a performance-sharing plan, and commitments to address a staffing crisis.