WSNA statement in support of lawsuit against Providence

The Washington State Nurses Association applauds State Attorney General Nick Brown for filing a lawsuit against Providence Health and Services over alleged failures to accommodate pregnant and breastfeeding nurses and other healthcare workers.

The lawsuit argues that Providence failed its duty under the Healthy Starts Act, which guarantees pregnant workers and their partners reasonable pregnancy and postpartum accommodations, and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

The suit alleges that Providence regularly rejected requests for accommodations or failed to implement accommodations they had agreed to. It says employees had to wait weeks for accommodations requests to be reviewed by a third-party vendor and required workers to continue performing duties that the lawsuit said, “could endanger their health or pregnancies.” The lawsuit also alleges that employees who requested accommodations were retaliated against, including discipline, forced leave, termination and unfavorable work assignments.

These are dreadful allegations that go against everything we believe as nurses and as a union. Pregnant workers and their partners deserve every support for the health of themselves and their babies. Unfortunately, this is a problem we have seen before in the hospitals where we represent nurses for collective bargaining. Nurses have reported hospitals failing to accommodate nurses’ requests, forcing breastfeeding mothers to pump in a staff bathroom, shaming nurses for taking pumping breaks, and other failures.

We wholeheartedly support this effort to make Providence, the largest healthcare provider in Washington state, do its legal and moral duty to support pregnant workers and their babies.