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Law360 (May 28, 2020, 7:16 PM EDT) -- A pair of former employees with the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia launched a whistleblower suit in state court Wednesday claiming they were fired last month after raising concerns about the nonprofit's alleged failure to adequately protect staff and patients from COVID-19.
Drayone Bland and Jennifer Deluca say that VNA, which operates an in-patient hospice facility in Philadelphia's East Falls neighborhood, went on the attack in April after learning that two workers had filed reports with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration about a lack of personal protective equipment and testing for the coronavirus.
"Plaintiffs served the public policy of the commonwealth by raising objections to practices of [VNA] that would exacerbate the COVID-19 public health crisis," the two said in a complaint filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. "[VNA] fired plaintiffs in retaliation for their objections."
Bland and Deluca say they started raising alarms about VNA's response to the pandemic after the nonprofit said in mid-March that it would only provide personal protective equipment to staff members who were treating patients who'd actually tested positive for COVID-19.
When staff members started wearing their own masks to work, the complaint says VNA specifically prohibited outside protective gear.
The complaint claims VNA went so far as to remove surgical masks that had previously been available as part of regular floor supplies at the facility.
In Bland's case, he says he was fired in mid-April within days of a staff meeting where he voiced concerns about VNA's purported failure to administer COVID-19 tests to newly admitted patients.
Bland, who was hired as a chaplain at the beginning of the year, says he'd previously asked to undergo testing for COVID-19 after learning he'd come in close contact with another employee who'd tested positive.
When VNA refused to provide testing, Bland says he took time off from work to seek out testing — which ultimately came back negative.
Deluca says she was placed on suspension in mid-April and ultimately fired at the end of the month over what VNA said was a social media post in which she complained about the lack of protective equipment at work.
She says she asked her superiors in March for permission to wear her own mask to work since she has emphysema, but her request was denied unless she produced a note from her doctor.
Her concerns about the lack of masks prompted her to reach out to OSHA at the end of March, the complaint says.
At a staff meeting in mid-April, the complaint says management made it clear it was aware OSHA had been contacted, that it was working to identify who had reached out to the agency, and that if the person voluntarily came forward he or she would receive "leniency."
That same day, according to the complaint, Deluca was told she was being suspended for "false claims."
Representatives for the parties did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.
The plaintiffs are represented by Manali Arora of Swartz Swidler LLC.
Counsel for VNA was not immediately available.
The case is Drayone Bland et al. v. Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia, case number 200501669, before the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
