About 50 nurses protested outside a San Francisco hospital demanding the reinstatement of a Filipina nurse they say was discriminated against, reports ABS CBN (Photo by Throgers)
San Agustin was fired by Sutter-California Pacific Medical Center after 12 years of working in the ER without any disciplinary problems.
“She’s actually a strong labor leader, union organizer, and her union here at CPMC and the California Nurses Association is fighting for a fair contract,” said Terrence Valen of the Filipino Community Center. “She was one of the leaders and in this incident where there was several people, she was targeted and singled out and fired in a discriminatory way.”
CPMC denied the allegations, accusing the union of distorting the facts. The hospital says Agustin was let go after a thorough investigation concerning patient safety.
This is not the first time allegations of discrimination against Filipinos has been made against CPMC.
In 2010, nurses say comments like “they’re all related, you can’t understand them” were heard in reference to Filipino nurses. They also say a Filipina chaplain was harassed and discriminated against in 2012.
You can read about what nurses plan to do next to fight for Agustin’s reinstatement in ABS CBN.
