Calif. Hospital Faces Filipino Nurse Discrimination Suit

The California Nurses Association is suing a San Francisco hospital claiming discrimination because managers refused to hire Filipino nurses.

The suit was filed against Sacramento-based Sutter Health and the company’s California Pacific Medical Center. Union leaders and Filipino activists in the Bay Area also want the San Francisco Human Rights Commission to investigate the discrimination claims.

Three former managers at California Pacific Medical Center say supervisors told them not to hire Filipino nurses between 2007 and 2009. The union says the percentage of Filipino nurses at the hospital dropped from 65 percent to 10 percent in 2008.

Hospital chief Warren Browner said the allegations are dishonest and without merit.