New England Health Care Employees Union v. Rowland
| Decision Date | 17 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 301CV464JCH. |
| Citation | 170 F.Supp.2d 199 |
| Parties | NEW ENGLAND HEALTH CARE, EMPLOYEES UNION, DISTRICT 1199, SEIU/AFL-CIO, Plaintiff v. Honorable John G. ROWLAND, Governor of State of Connecticut, individually and in his official capacity and Patricia Wilson-Coker, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services, individually and in her official capacity, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
John M. Creane, Michael E. Passero, Law Offices of John M. Creane, Milford, CT, for plaintiff.
Gary S. Starr, Sheila Huddleston, Brian Clemow, Shipman & Goodwin, Hartford, CT, James K. Robertson, Jr., Carmody & Torrance, Waterbury, CT, for defendants.
RULING ON PLAINTIFF S MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION [DKT. NO. 1]
This is an action for injunctive relief and declaratory judgment arising from the conduct of the defendants, the Honorable John G. Rowland, Governor of the State of Connecticut, and Patricia Wilson-Coker, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services ("defendants"), in connection with a one-day strike by members of the plaintiff Union, New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU/AFL-CIO ("District 1199"). District 1199 alleges that the defendants' use of State power in connection with an ongoing labor dispute and strike between District 1199 and forty Connecticut nursing homes violated its members' First Amendment rights and interfered with its members' rights protected by the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). This action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.1
Pending before the court is District 1199's motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction [Dkt. No. 1].2 District 1199 asks the court to enjoin the defendants from:
1. [a]pplying Conn. Gen.Stat. § 17b-340 in a manner that permits the [Department of Social Services ("DSS")] to make direct and/or expedited reimbursement to licensed nursing homes for strike preparations or strike-related costs, as described in Deputy Commissioner Michael Starkowski's February 7, 2001 letter to providers .... [and] 2.[d]eploying National Guard/State Militia personnel, during any nursing home strike conducted by Plaintiff union, to perform routine tasks on behalf of nursing home owners that are normal strike operation responsibilities of nursing home owners, absent emergency conditions affecting the health or safety of residents in any affected nursing home.
Plaintiff's Proposed Order of Relief [Dkt. No. 27].
The issue presented by District 1199's motion is whether federal labor policy preempts the authority of the State to reimburse immediately the Medicaid portion of the costs of replacement workers for struck private sector nursing homes, to provide other state services to support the employers' ability to withstand a strike, and to use the National Guard to provide transportation for replacement workers.3 Because the court concludes that, on the record before it, District 1199 has not established a likelihood of success on the merits, the motion for preliminary injunction is denied.
District 1199 is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(a) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 152(5). District 1199 represents approximately 7,000 union members who are employed at seventy-one nursing homes in Connecticut. These members are employed as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurses' aides, housekeepers, and in maintenance, laundry, clerical, and other positions.
The State of Connecticut currently has approximately 250 licensed nursing homes, with 30,000 licensed nursing home beds. Connecticut nursing homes are regulated by the State of Connecticut under the auspices of the Department of Public Health ("DPH"). DPH establishes and monitors the level of care and staffing required to maintain the safety, health, and welfare of the nursing home residents. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 19a-493, 19a-496. DPH is responsible by state statute for assessing the care and services provided to these nursing home residents in order to determine that the residents' health, safety, and welfare are being properly cared for. Id.
In order to ensure the safety of nursing home residents during any strike, DPH requires nursing homes to submit strike contingency plans. Id. § 19a-497. In the past, nursing homes have prepared for strikes or other job actions by making alternative preparations for the care of residents- obtaining volunteers, hiring temporary replacement workers, or requiring supervisors to provide resident care. In some instances, nursing homes have moved residents, stopped admitting new residents, or otherwise curtailed operations. During previous nursing home strikes, the State has sent inspectors or monitors to the nursing homes to ensure that residents were continuing to receive care during the strike. In addition, should the health and safety of nursing home residents be jeopardized by a strike, the State, through the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, can seek the appointment of a receiver, stop admissions, move nursing home residents, or limit the license of a nursing home. See id. §§ 19a-485 through 19a-560.
Approximately 76% of the residents in the nursing homes affected by the strike at issue in this case are covered by the federal Medicaid program. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396-1396v. Under that program, the State, through its Department of Social Services ("DSS"), reimburses nursing homes for the cost of the food, shelter, and medical care of those residents covered by the Medicaid Program.5 The federal government reimburses the State for 50% of its allowable Medicaid costs. Approximately 10% of the State's budget is spent on Medicaid for nursing homes.
DSS reimburses each Connecticut nursing home the facility's "base rate" for care provided to Medicaid-eligible residents. Conn. Gen.Stat. § 17b-340. Each facility's "base rate" is determined by DSS periodically under a methodology that utilizes the historical costs of providing care at a particular nursing home. A facility's historical costs of providing care are determined from a report that the facility is required to provide annually to DSS itemizing all expenditures for the fiscal year ending on September 30. Id. § 17b-340(a). State law puts caps on spending in many different areas, which caps affect the provision in the law that allows reimbursement for reasonable costs mandated by collective bargaining agreements. Id. State law provides for calculation of each facility's base reimbursement rate once every two to four years. Id. § 17b-340(f)(8). DSS has concluded that the cap does not apply to "extraordinary" costs as allowed under Connecticut General Statute § 17b-340(a).
In February of 1999, during the last significant round of negotiations between the nursing homes and District 1199, District 1199 sent out ten-day strike notices to forty-seven nursing homes with whom its contracts had expired. Although District 1199 did not announce its intention to withdraw these notices until forty-eight hours prior to the strike date, the State had not determined that immediate reimbursement of strike-related expenses, including pre-strike payment of any deposit required to contract for replacement workers, was necessary to assure the health and safety of nursing home residents of the targeted homes. District 1199 entered into new contracts, without striking, with most of the nursing homes after the State announced an additional $75 million would be made available for nursing home labor costs.
Subsequently, however, when no contracts were reached with some nursing homes, District 1199 struck them. In connection with these strikes later in 1999 and 2000, DSS received and processed, on an ad hoc basis, requests for special Medicaid reimbursement for strike preparations and strike-related costs, attributable to the Medicaid portion of their population, which it determined were necessary to avoid a negative impact on the health and safety of nursing home residents. Such payments totaled $723,254 in calendar years 1999 and 2000 and were made to sixteen nursing homes. A significant portion of the strike-related reimbursement related to strike preparation included non-refundable deposits for replacement workers and security. Although engaged in strike action against these sixteen nursing homes in 1999, District 1199 never learned of the State's reimbursement of strike-related expenses in excess of the capped rate previously determined by the State as the reimbursable rate.
Apparently aware that a number of contracts between District 1199 and fifty-one nursing homes were to expire in March 2001, state officials held meetings within state agencies beginning as early as September 2000 to discuss concerns about contingency planning to protect the health and safety of residents of the nursing homes involved. State officials also met with some nursing home owners and with representatives of the nursing home owners association. They also met once with union representatives.
Long before strike notices were issued, state officials determined that state contingency plans were necessary because the individual nursing homes ability to serve their residents was subject to disruption by a number of factors beyond the control of the homes owners. Factors considered by the defendants,6 which could prevent the nursing home owners from providing adequate care, included the availability, reliability, and appropriate licensure of replacement workers; the availability of adequate transportation to get the replacement workers to sites where they were needed; the vagaries of weather or other problems that could delay replacement workers traveling to Connecticut from distant locales; the financial plight of...
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