Fairmont (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center closed March 19 and is allegedly refusing to pay workers the wages and benefits they had previously been promised, according WBOY.
Irvine, Calif.-based Alecto Healthcare Services, which owns the 207-bed hospital, decided March 25 not to pay registered nurses and other former employees for their earned benefit time, according to the report, which cited a news release from Service Employees International Union District 1199.
"This is a slap in the face to the people and patients of West Virginia during the largest health crisis this state has ever seen," Joyce Gibson, regional director for SEIU District 1199, said. "Hospital executives pleaded with our nurses and other care providers to continue to provide quality care until the last day of operations, but then rewarded them by refusing to pay our members for their earned leave time like vacation, personal and sick leave."
Union officials plan to sue Fairmont Regional and Alecto, alleging violations of state and federal law. The union claims the hospital violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and labor laws.
Alecto could not immediately be reached for comment.