22 Kaiser Workers Suspended in Drug Inquiry : Hospital: The undercover operation draws fire from union stewards who say proper procedures were not followed.

At least 22 employees of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Harbor City have been temporarily suspended as part of a one-year undercover investigation of the alleged sale and use of drugs at the facility, hospital officials said Wednesday.

The officials said no final disciplinary action had been taken and law enforcement officials had not been brought in, although that possibility was not ruled out.

Although the continuing investigation focuses primarily on the sale and use of drugs, it has expanded to include allegations of petty theft of hospital supplies, hospital administrator Timothy Reed said.

The probe--conducted by Narcorp of San Diego, a private investigation firm hired by Kaiser--involved the use of undercover officers posing as workers.

In a memo distributed to employees Wednesday, hospital officials said that the medical center is a “microcosm of society” and that the investigation “demonstrates that our program is committed to a drug-free environment.”

Most of the suspended employees--among 35 questioned--were told not to report to work for five days, although at least two have been told that they are off duty until further notice. Reed said some of the suspended workers may be reinstated next week--with back pay--if investigators conclude that they did nothing wrong.

“We haven’t made any individual decisions and each case is an individual case,” he said, adding that the employees were suspended “in order not to create a panic atmosphere” over the investigation.

Nonetheless, the investigation has sent ripples through the ranks at the hospital, where employees are complaining that the suspensions are unfair and that the private investigators intimidated them into talking without union representation and signing incorrect affidavits.

“I was so nervous I didn’t know what I was writing,” said David Perez, a medical supplies clerk. He said he was accused of stealing after having given baby formula to some hospital employees.

Said employee Morris Bumpers:

“They asked me, ‘Do I know anyone that does drugs? Do I know anyone that sells drugs? Do I know anyone that’s stealing from the hospital?’

“I’m upset. I don’t appreciate it. I don’t feel that they had the right to interrogate me as they did.”

At a meeting Wednesday in Harbor Regional Park, across from the hospital, Perez, Bumpers and the other suspended employees shared their gripes with union stewards, who said they intend to file grievances against the hospital for not following proper discipline procedure.

“They have every right to investigate what goes on in their facility,” Charity Currie, a nurse and union steward, said of Kaiser. “But they don’t have the right to impinge on employees’ rights to work without being harassed.”

The employees complained of interrogation sessions that lasted as long as eight hours. They also said investigators told them that they were welcome to have union representation, but warned them against it, saying the meetings would not be confidential if union stewards were brought in.

However, Reed maintained that all procedures were properly followed and that “all employees made their choices freely about union representation.”

Reed said the suspended employees do not include doctors or nurses. Most work in support services capacities, such as housekeeping, patient transportation and the supply storeroom.

The suspensions came just a week after Kaiser employees returned to work after an eight-day strike.

Reed, noting that the narcotics investigation had been under way for a year, said the timing was coincidental.

Reed also noted that this was not the first time that Kaiser, which operates hospitals and clinics throughout the Southland, has conducted an undercover drug investigation. He said two employees at Harbor City were suspended several years ago and one was fired. In addition, 10 clerks and maintenance workers at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hollywood were arrested on narcotics charges in 1987.