New York Nurses Union’s Human Trafficking Case Bounced

The New York State Nurses Association may not sue a hospital for allegedly violating the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act in its recruitment and treatment of Filipino nurses, a federal court in the state said.

The TVPA prohibits forced labor. It identifies two types of people who can seek civil remedies or injunctive relief under the act—trafficking victims and state attorneys general.

Because the TVPA doesn’t expressly include labor unions or employee representatives as proper parties, the NYSNA couldn’t bring this case, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York said Wednesday.

The court dismissed the NYSNA’s ...