Supreme Court Victory for PA Healthcare Workers and the Public

On Nov. 20, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a 5 to 1 decision, issued a decision in a lawsuit filed by Willig, Williams & Davidson partner Bruce M. Ludwig on behalf of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, a number of individual nurses, and various state senators and representatives.

The lawsuit challenged the Corbett Administration’s ill-conceived plan to close 26 State Health Centers and eliminate 26 public health nurse positions. These Centers and nurses guard against the spread of tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, educate the public on the risks of lead poisoning and provide other essential health services in the 60 counties in Pennsylvania which do not have their own health department.

The Supreme Court agreed with the union that the Corbett Administration’s plans violated the state statute mandating that the Department of Health maintain the level of public health services that existed as of the time the statute went into effect.

The Court issued an injunction requiring the State “to cease reducing the number of Centers, reestablish the Health Centers in counties in which they had been unlawfully closed, cease reducing the level of public health services, and restore the level of public health services to that which existed on July 1, 1995.”

For more information on the impact of this Supreme Court victory or on how Willig, Williams & Davidson can help your organization fight to preserve good union jobs, please contact one of our Labor Department attorneys at (215) 656-3600.

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