EAST ST. LOUIS - Chicago nursing homes that defeated a St. Clair County class action on appeal only to face it again would prefer not to face it in St. Clair County.
On Oct. 30, they opposed a motion to remand the action from U.S. district court to St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner.
Last year Hoerner certified local resident Saroya Roberson to represent workers throughout the network alleging violation of fingerprint privacy.
Fifth District appellate judges ruled last year that she could represent workers only at Sycamore Village in Swansea, where she worked.
“This is the only nursing home that is owned and operated by a defendant in this lawsuit,” wrote Justice Randy Moore.
The decision shrank the class from thousands of members to 552.
This July 2, Hoerner approved an amended complaint adding 10 plaintiffs who worked at Chicago homes and naming the homes as defendants.
The homes removed the action to district court in September and moved to dismiss it or transfer it to district court in Chicago.
They asserted diversity jurisdiction, claiming many past and present employees in the network reside in other states.
They claimed nine plaintiffs belonged to unions and should resolve their claims through collective bargaining agreements.
They claimed the amount in controversy exceeded $5 million, the minimum for federal jurisdiction in a class action.
Roberson’s counsel, Paul Johnson of John Driscoll’s firm in St. Louis, moved to remand the action to St. Clair County.
He claimed defendants didn’t remove it in a timely manner, and he denied that union members lacked standing.
Network counsel Joseph Donato responded that time for removal begins with service of a complaint, not with filing of the complaint.
He wrote that plaintiffs contended that the removal clock for the new defendants started on July 2, based on notice to him.
He wrote that he didn’t represent the new defendants at that time.
He wrote that plaintiffs didn’t dispute that the parties are diverse or that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.
Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel presides.