A temporary restraining order has been granted in favor of union-represented employees working for Nevada health care facilities who were required to either have seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines or wear a surgical mask for their shifts. The federal litigation involves defendants Southern Hills Medical Center, LLC and Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, LLC of Clark County, NV. The facilities' policies would also require employees to wear markings on their badges to indicate their vaccination status. The defendants enacted the policy without first bargaining with plaintiff Service Employees International Union, Local 1107 (Union). The Union represents registered nurses and other employees of the facilities.

According to the complaint filed by the Union, Sunrise and Southern Hills had announced to their employees in August that employees who could infect a patient or be infected would be required to receive both a seasonal flu vaccination and a H1N1 vaccination. Those who declined the vaccinations would be required to wear a surgical mask for the entirety of their shift. The Union then filed grievances with Sunrise and Southern Hills for a final and binding arbitration decision on whether the facilities may unilaterally implement the immunization policy without first bargaining with the Union.

The Union applied for a temporary restraining order to prevent the defendant facilities from continuing the required immunization and masking policy in order to preserve the arbitration. The U.S. District Court, District of Nevada Judge Robert C. Jones has found that the parties in the case are bound to arbitrate the grievances, and that the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief. With the legal equities in the Union's favor, the Judge found that granting the injunction preventing the facilities from directly or indirectly taking any action to further implement the seasonal immunization and masking is in the public interest.
The Judge said without the injunction, the grievance-arbitration process would be frustrated, and the Union's members would be forced to receive an unwanted vaccine, expose their decisions regarding the decisions to the public, or be subject to termination. Once those policies were instituted, an arbitrator would then have great difficulty remedying them. The Judge pointed out that the facilities have already used a voluntary immunization process and had already delayed implementation of the new policy. Continuing the voluntary status quo would not hurt the defendants, as 80 to 90 percent of the employees have already voluntarily been vaccinated.

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