Lawyers representing the University Medical Center met last Friday with five former employees who are suing the University on grounds they were unjustly fired.
Lawyers for both sides discussed the possibility of resolving the case outside of court, University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said.
The former employees were fired in May after three patients in the psychiatric ward were allegedly raped. The suspect in two of the rapes, Rudolph T. Johnson Jr., had been convicted of a felony prior to taking the job at the Medical Center.
Reacting to the alleged assaults, the Medical Center reviewed the applications of temporary and probationary employees, firing those who had previous criminal records. Probationary employees are workers who have been working at the Medical Center six months or less.
The fired employees are suing for back pay and to return to their old jobs or similar jobs at the Medical Center.
They argue that the firings were unfair, as the employees had nothing to do with alleged assaults at the hospital.
If the lawyers do not reach a resolution before Aug. 16, the court will hear the University's motion to dismiss the case.
"We might resolve it, we might not," said Robert P. Dwoskin, the attorney representing the fired workers.
The motion to dismiss argues that the employees were all temporary or probationary and had no contractual agreement with the University. Therefore, both the employees and the employer were free to terminate employment at any time.
Neither Dwoskin nor University officials were able to comment further on the case, as it is an ongoing legal matter.
As lawyers met inside the courthouse, members of the Labor Action Group and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gathered outside the courthouse to express their support for the fired workers.
About 20 people, including Charlottesville City councilwoman Meredith Richards gathered in front of the courthouse for a "peaceful show of solidarity," LAG member Susan Fraiman said.
"These events were used to scapegoat the most vulnerable workers at U.Va.," Labor Action Group member Susan Fraiman said. The workers were easy to fire because they were temporary or probationary.
She added that the firing of the employees did not solve the problem of the assaults.
LAG members started a worker's defense fund to "help the workers pay bills while they are out of work," she said, adding that some of the fired workers have taken part-time jobs while they wait for the case to be settled. So far, LAG has raised $3,500.
LAG began petitioning on behalf of the workers and already have received over 1,000 signatures from the community, Fraiman said.
The NAACP has shown support for the fired employees because eight of the nine original fired workers were black, Fraiman said. "The NAACP feels [the firings] are part of a larger pattern of racial discrimination at the University."
Mary Smith, one of the five plaintiffs said she "was really pleased with LAG and the NAACP. LAG has been there since the beginning."
Smith said she expected good things to come out of the meetings with the University lawyers.
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