County Health Department Halts Scheduled Layoffs

The Los Angeles County Health Department announced Thursday that it would halt all planned layoffs until a court takes final action on a temporary order protecting some of the jobs.

The Health Department also said, however, that it intended to go ahead with 300 transfers and demotions at county hospitals and health clinics in an attempt to save money.

Earlier this week, the county’s largest employees union won a temporary restraining order from Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne preventing 35 health service workers from being laid off. But 37 non-union employees not covered by that order had expected to be laid off today.

Instead, department officials said they would wait until April 28, when Wayne is scheduled to rule on whether to make her order against the layoffs permanent.

The county wants to lay off and transfer workers to lessen a budget deficit projected to be as much as $1.2 billion.

Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union, which won the temporary restraining order, plans to challenge the transfers in court, possibly as soon as today.

“We interpreted the restraining order to include involuntary transfers,” said Bart Diener, a union spokesman. “And we intend to go back to the judge to stop them if necessary.”

Meanwhile, the Health Department maintains that the transfers are not included in the court order.

“We’re interpreting the restraining order as stopping layoffs, not transfers and demotions,” said Walter Gray, assistant director for health services.

The proposed transfers--part of a process called “cascading”--are intended to save the jobs of the department’s more senior workers by laying off its most recent hires.

The Health Department had originally planned to lay off 1,200 employees before it was ordered by the Board of Supervisors to trim the figure.