The United Nurses Association of California/Union of Healthcare Professionals---an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees---has sued Tenet Healthcare Corporation for failing to maintain sufficient staffing levels. The union alleges that as a result understaffing at the corporation's hospitals nurses have not received lunches and paid breaks required under California labor laws, and is seeking class action status for the suit on behalf of up to 7,000 Southern California nurses. A spokesman for the corporation claimed that the suit was baseless, and suggested that the union is using the courts to leverage its position in negotiations under way at two of Tenet's hospitals.
See "Suit Claims Tenet Violated Labor Laws", Bloomberg News, Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2002