Legal

Nurses Union Sues JFL Over Unpaid Wrongful-Termination Settlement; Spreadsheet Shows More Than $370K Due

ST. CROIX — The territory’s nurses union has sued Juan F. Luis Hospital and several government entities, alleging that a settlement for a nurse the hospital later acknowledged had been wrongfully terminated remains unpaid despite calculations showing she was due more than $370,000 in lost wages. The civil complaint, filed in Superior Court by the Virgin Islands State Nurses Association Collective Bargaining Unit, says JFL agreed in 2024 to settle the case of emergency room nurse Cheryl Leddy rather than proceed to arbitration. According to the lawsuit, hospital counsel concluded that Leddy had been wrongfully fired in 2021 over accusations that she falsified a return-to-work form. A settlement agreement followed on Oct. 29, 2024. Nearly two years later, the union alleges that Leddy has received none of the promised compensation and that JFL has failed to provide a payment plan. Nurse Fired over Return-to-Work Form According to the complaint, Leddy was on approved medical leave fr...