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Filipino SentosaCare nurses return to court Wednesday

BY REID J. EPSTEIN | reid.epstein@newsday.com

11:07 PM EDT, September 24, 2007

The 10 Filipino SentosaCare nurses who quit in protest of their working conditions will be in a Suffolk courtroom Wednesday to learn whether the charges against them will be dismissed.

The 10, who worked at the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Smithtown, face misdemeanor indictments of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy to break their contracts with their employer.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said in a statement Monday that he's looking forward to taking the case to a jury.

"The innocence or guilt of these health-care workers will be decided by a jury," he said. "The charges ... are from a grand jury whose members carefully reviewed the evidence and considered the testimony of people with knowledge of the defendants' actions on the night of their walkout."

Spota, a Republican-turned-Democrat who ran with both major parties' endorsement in 2005, received a $1,500 campaign donation from the law firm of SentosaCare attorney Howard Fensterman, of Lake Success, who gave the money at a fundraiser at an Islanders game in December 2003. Other attendees donated $500, Suffolk Board of Elections records show. The $1,500 check is one of the larger donations made to Spota's campaign by a nonunion organization, records show.

Newsday reported this week that Fensterman, a major fundraiser for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), helped broker a meeting between SentosaCare executives and Spota. Schumer also wrote letters in support of the company to Filipino government officials.

Schumer could not be reached for comment Monday night, said spokesman Josh Vlasto.

The 10 nurses and their attorney, who also faces charges, are expected to hold a news conference Tuesday in Manhattan.

With SentosaCare facing a crisis after 27 Filipino employees resigned en masse last year, Schumer wrote four letters on behalf of the company to Philippine government officials, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

SentosaCare executives and their nursing homes' investors, attorneys and vendors later donated nearly $75,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, of which Schumer is chairman.

Staff writer Michael Amon contributed to this story.