US District Court Judge Robert Chatigny has ruled HealthBridge Management – owner of five nursing homes in Connecticut – is in contempt of previous court rulings.
Chatigny’s Dec. 23 ruling orders the company to pay workers retroactively for the wages and benefits HealthBridge reduced when its 600 workers returned to their jobs in February. the staff had been out of their jobs during a a seven-month strike that extended from July, 2012 through January, 2013.
The judge also ordered the company to pay tens of thousands of dollar in fines for any future Cs for any future violations of his order in the case.
Deborah Chernoff, spokeswoman for New England health Care Workers Union 1199 said Thursday that by now, the company has paid far more in legal fees to fight the union than it would have cost to settle the contract.
“They’ve spent millions, she said.
The five homes involved in the fight are : Danbury Health Care Center: West River Health Care Center in Milford; Newington Health Care Center; Long Ridge in Stamford and Westport Health Care Center.