A federal judge has ordered a January 2025 trial in a Colorado case in which union workers have sued health care giant Kaiser Permanente over staffing issues.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local No. 7 filed a lawsuit in October 2021 against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado and Colorado Permanente Medical Group.
The case centers around accusations that Kaiser has inadequate staffing levels in breach of collective bargaining agreements.
These agreements, in place since 2000, mandate that Kaiser provide sufficient staffing to address the quality of patient care standards and provider workload, including safe coverage.
U.S. District Judge William Martinez for the District of Colorado partially granted, denied, and deferred ruling on Kaiser’s request for a summary judgment. A nine-day bench trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 13, 2025.
The union represents 23,000 workers in Colorado and Wyoming, including 2,000 of Kaiser’s nurses and health care professionals.
In response to the suit, Kaiser countersued a year later, alleging that the union breached its contractual obligation to assist Kaiser in resolving staffing-related issues.
Kaiser argued that the union’s claims should have been addressed during collective bargaining negotiations and that the union’s delay in filing the lawsuit prejudiced its defense, citing the death of a key witness.
“To that point, the court anticipates that the union has a steep hill to climb at trial to differentiate actionable events under the patient care article from those that must be arbitrated under the staffing article,” he wrote.
Judge Martinez rejected Kaiser’s argument that the union’s claims were barred by the doctrine of laches. This doctrine protects defendants from facing old claims in which the plaintiff has delayed filing the lawsuit unreasonably.
Kaiser has argued that the union sat on staffing issues from as early as 2010 before filing a lawsuit.
“While some portions of Kaiser’s arguments may have some merit, the court cannot find as a matter of law that the union’s claim is barred by laches,” Judge Martinez wrote.
“Additionally, as the union explains, both sides were aware of staffing issues for years, and the union repeatedly raised staffing issues with Kaiser.”
The judge ruled that factual disputes about when the staffing issues began and whether they are within a three-year statute of limitations must be resolved at trial.
Last month, Judge Martinez found both parties responsible for addressing staffing issues but determined that the case should proceed to trial to establish which party was at fault.
