Ex-D.A. still immune from suit by wrongly indicted nurses, lawyer

(Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court upheld a win for prosecutors in a civil-rights lawsuit by 10 Filipino nurses and their attorney, all of whom were wrongfully indicted for patient endangerment and conspiracy in 2007 after the nurses quit their jobs at a Long Island rehabilitation center.

By a 2-1 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that then-Suffolk County, N.Y., District Attorney Thomas Spota and the lawyers who handled the case were entitled to absolute immunity for claims “intimately related” to the judicial process.

However, Circuit Judges Raymond Lohier and Robert Sack acknowledged that the dissent by Senior Circuit Judge Denny Chin “raises strong, even compelling policy concerns … in favor of significantly curtailing the doctrine of absolute prosecutorial immunity.”

Chin said the usual rules of immunity did not apply because the prosecution was unconstitutional: A state appeals court had halted it in 2009, finding the charges violated the nurses’ right to be free from involuntary servitude and attorney Felix Vinluan’s right to free speech.

Vinluan’s lawyer, Oscar Michelen of Cuomo LLC, plans to seek en banc review or direct review by the Supreme Court.

“We will continue to pursue justice for Mr. Vinluan and for an analysis of the harmful effects of blanket absolute immunity for prosecutors,” Michelen said in an email. “I think the dissent makes clear that these facts are outrageous and that the Suffolk DA had no basis under the law to charge Mr. Vinluan simply for giving legal advice.”

Stephen O’Brien of O’Brien & O’Brien, who represented the county defendants, said Wednesday they were “particularly gratified” that the majority reaffirmed the immunity doctrine’s broad reach.

Juliet Anilao and the other nurses were jointly represented by Druker PC. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the opinion, the nurses were recruited to come to New York by Sentosa Care, but found their wages and working conditions much worse than advertised. They contacted the Philippine Consulate, which referred them to Vinluan. He advised them that they could quit as long as they did not abandon their patients by walking out mid-shift.

All 10 resigned after their shifts ended the next day. Sentosa tried and failed to have them arrested and to have their nursing licenses revoked, but “finally found a receptive audience in Spota,” the majority noted Wednesday.

The lawsuit claimed Spota was politically motivated to protect Sentosa, a large local employer.

Spota was convicted of obstruction of justice in an unrelated case in 2019 and began serving a five-year sentence last December. His conviction is on appeal.

The case decided Wednesday is Anilao et al. v. Thomas J. Spota III, Individually and as District Attorney of Suffolk County, et al., 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals No. 19-3949.

For Anilao et al.: James Druker and Paula Schwartz Frome of Druker P.C.

For Felix Vinluan: Oscar Michelen of Cuomo LLC

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