One Year Ago Today (April 23, 2023)…A nurse is suing Providence Health System-Southern California, alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2022 for complaining about sexually oriented misconduct by a co-worker and for requesting sick pay for time off taken when he had the coronavirus.
Jason Andrada’s Inglewood Superior Court wrongful termination/retaliation suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. A Providence representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.
Andrada was hired in October 2020 as an operating room nurse at Little Company of Mary Providence Medical Center in Torrance, the suit states. He consistently received good performance reviews, but that changed when he “blew the whistle” on a co-worker who was creating a hostile work environment, according to the suit.
The other employee, a male surgical technician, often made offensive sexually oriented comments at work around co-workers, patients and visitors, the suit states. Last June, Andrada complained to human resources about the worker’s alleged misconduct, additionally saying that the technician showed co-workers sexually explicit pictures on his mobile phone while speaking poorly about women.
However, the surgical technician’s inappropriate behavior continued, the suit states.
In July, Andrada had a high fever with other COVID-19 symptoms and took time off, but he had to ask for sick leave he was entitled to when he returned to work in August, according to the suit.
Also in August, Andrada was investigated for time card fraud for allegedly checking out 10 to 15 minutes late from his shift on the time clock, the suit states.
“This scrutiny only started after plaintiff complained about the hostile work environment and not getting his paid sick leave,” the suit states.
During a meeting with management over the time card issue, Andrada’s department head allegedly treated him with disdain and at one point Andrada became so frustrated he “mentioned that he would resign his employment.”
In late August, Andrada’s supervisor notified him by email that he was “effectively fired,” that his resignation was being accepted and that “no further shifts worked are necessary. Thank you for your service to Little Company of Mary,” the suit states.
Andrada filed a grievance to get his job back, but it was denied in November.
Andrada’s complaints about his denial of sick pay and about the alleged misconduct of the surgical technician were contributing factors in his firing, the suit states.
Andrada has suffered financial losses, emotional distress and harm to his reputation because of his firing, according to the suit.