New Jersey county settles ‘pro-Filipino’ bias lawsuit

Non-Filipino nurses accused Violetta Arcilla, then-director of the Bergen County Health Care Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, of favoring Filipino staffers. The center is now closed, and Arcilla passed away in the Philippines last year.

Bergen County, New Jersey settled a 3-year-old racial discrimination lawsuit that four nurses filed against a county-owned nursing home and its Filipina former director, who allegedly favored Filipino nurses over non-Filipinos on the staff, Bloomberg Law reported.

The settlement terms were not disclosed as it is yet to be fully executed, according county attorneys.

Non-Filipino nurses Carmen Masille, Maureen Beach, Rita Blaser and Barbara Masten claimed that Violetta Arcilla, then-director of the nursing home, forced out non-Filipinos, disciplined them unfairly and gave Filipino nurses better schedules.

The four nurses filed the class action lawsuit for themselves and other non-Filipino nurses employed by the center between 2015 and 2018 when the lawsuit was filed.

The Bergen County Health Care Center in Hackensack, NJ, was closed last year due to financial difficulties and problems brought on by the Covid pandemic. Most of the residents and staff have been moved to other county facilities. Arcilla passed away in the Philippines on April 7, 2021.

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