Lawsuit Filed to Halt Jackson Healthcare Layoffs

An emergency lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Jackson, Mississippi in an attempt to halt the firing or more than 170 nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals. The lawsuit argues that the ability for the city to provide quality care would be jeopardized if the layoffs go through.

Specifically, the lawsuit states that some of the proposed layoffs will cause the Public Health Trust to violate their bylaws requiring  “one standard of patient care.”

Layoffs will mean “disparate patient care and treatment, interruption in the continuity of patient care, denial of medical and other related services to patients and an impermissible patient load on the professional staff,” according to suit filed by SEIU.