Class Action Suit Filed By Las Encinas Hospital Former Employees for Labor Code Violations

August 7, 2009

A class action suit was filed by the former employees of Aurora Las Encinas Hospital against the owner of the facility over alleged California Labor Code violations committed due to the hospital’s chronic understaffing.

In 2008, the Las Encinas Hospital, a private psychiatric facility in Pasadena became the subject of review and scrutiny since the unexpected deaths of its three adult patients and the rape of a 14-year-old patient.

The suit of the former employees alleged that they were forced to work past the ends of their shifts, with no overtime pay just to complete work obligations because of the severe understaffing. This in turn, as most of them felt, has compromised patient care.

Their complaint also stated the lack of proper sanitary facilities for the employees. In addition to the bathrooms with no soap, there was no sink in one bathroom. Some employees also alleged buying their own medical equipment such as blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes because the tools provided by the hospital were substandard.

The employees also claimed that the hospital provided the answers to their mandatory examinations because it didn’t want them to study and pay them for that time.

The lawsuit filed against Las Encinas is also seeking a class action status on behalf of the other employees of three other psychiatric hospitals in Southern California run by Signature Healthcare Services, which operates under the Aurora name in Ventura, Covina and San Diego.