MANILA, Philippines -- The immigration case filed against Sentosa Recruitment Agency in New York by the 27 Filipino nurses it hired has been partially dismissed, a US justice department judge said Friday.

“The claim of failure to hire is dismissed,” said Ellen K. Thomas, administrative law judge of the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer of the executive office for immigration review of the United States’ Department of Justice.

In this case, the fifth filed by the 27 Filipino nurses against Sentosa, they claimed that Sentosa failed to hire them because of their citizenship status, and that the recruitment agency retaliated against them by filing various cases against them.

The judge also gave the complaining Filipino nurses 15 days to substantiate their claim of retaliation or the case will be completely dismissed.

“The complainants have until May 8, 2008 to show cause why their retaliatory claims should not be dismissed as abandoned,” she said.

In her decision issued April 14, Thomas said she partially dismissed the case because of the nurses’ refusal to respond to her order for discovery.

“A party who fails to respond to orders of the administrative law judge may be deemed to have abandoned the complaint,” the judge said in her four-page order.

Thomas said the discovery requests are mainly to the claim of failure to hire.

INQUIRER.net obtained a copy of the decision, which also said: “I conclude…that responses would have been adverse to claim of failure to hire and that the matter is resolved in favor of the respondents.”

In a phone interview with the Sentosa lawyer in Manila, Ibaro Relamida Jr. said this immigration case was partially dismissed because of the “absurd allegation” that Sentosa failed to hire the nurses.

“In truth and in fact, the nurses resigned from the facilities of Sentosa,” the lawyer said.

Relamida said the claim that Sentosa was vindictive by filing cases against the nurses is also false.

“In truth and in fact, the nurses and their lawyers filed various cases against Sentosa, to wit: United States’ DOJ, dismissed last August 2007, Philippines’ DOJ, dismissed last January 2008; Philippines’ National Labor Relations Commission, dismissed last February 2008; and Philippines’ Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, dismissed last September 2007,” he said.

“This is the fifth case they filed against us that’s been dismissed,” he added.

Relamida said Sentosa filed only one case against the nurses, before the Supreme Court in New York for breach of contract after the nurses did not complete the three-year contract as immigrant nurses petitioned by Sentosa with various long-term care facilities.

He clarified that the grand jury indictment the nurses are facing was not initiated by Sentosa. “It is a criminal case filed by the People of New York against Elmer Jacinto, lawyer Felix Vinluan, and the other nurses for violation of penal laws in the state of New York,” he said.