Hospital’s former CEO files suit over facility’s closing
The former chief operating officer of Brownsville General Hospital Inc. has filed suit, claiming that he was not properly notified the hospital was going to close. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday, Karl Thomas Skrypak alleged that BGH owners violated his rights under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The act requires employers to give workers 60 days notice prior to closing.
Without that notice, the employees may be entitled to back pay and benefits for up to 60 days, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Worker’s Guide to the WARN Act.
Skrypak’s suit asks for 60 days’ worth of back pay and benefits, plus interest.
According to the suit, Skrypak was a full-time employee at the hospital and also was an elected officer serving as executive vice president. He acted in those capacities until hospital owners announced a permanent layoff on Jan. 8. The layoff affected about 150 people and Skrypak was not consulted in the decision, according to the suit.
“The president and chief executive officer of (BGH), as well as the board of directors of (BGH), did not include Karl Thomas Skrypak in any discussions or decision” to effectively close the facility, according to the suit.
Skrypak indicated in the suit that hospital officials sent the WARN notice on Jan. 17, nearly 10 days after the hospital, then know as Tara Hospital at Brownsville, actually closed. Under the act, Skrypak indicated he is entitled to back pay and benefits from Jan. 8 through March 11.
The WARN letter indicates the closure effects about 230 employees and says the closing was effective on Jan. 8.
“This plant closing affects all employees, in all job classifications,” the letter, signed by BGH chief executive officer Harry Cancelmi, indicated.
The notice of closure also states that, “There is no severance plan available for employees.”
Cancelmi’s letter, included as an exhibit to the lawsuit, blamed the closing on lack of adequate funding for the hospital to continue operating.
On Jan. 24, the owners of BGH filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Pittsburgh. The filing came less than a year after the hospital went from a nonprofit to a for-profit facility. A group of businessmen bought the community hospital in March 2005.
Hearings on the bankruptcy proceeding have been ongoing since the filing earlier this year.