Temporary Emergency complaints/petitions/motions rarely get heard at all on an emergency basis. I have never seen one other than in domestic abuse and family law where life or safety could be at stake. After watching Gene's link, reading a few newspaper articles and reviewing the court's actual publicly available summary reports, I do not see anything legally wrong with the TRO/Injunction because of the rapid timeline of the case (the very next court day) for the following reasons:
What about the public interest issue of making sure the public's need for highly specialized emergency stroke care is fully available on day-one? Is the new employer 100% fully ready to go on day-one? Are the neurologists and neurosurgeons and other medical specialists in the community ready to go 100% on day-one? Are the ambulance and rescue personal ready to go on day-one? Does everyone who needs to know know, etc., etc.... These, I truly believe are legitimate concerns.
I ask these questions because one of two competing hospital chains in Orlando is a center of excellence for interventional stroke management and the other **sucks royal** for it- as well as neurology and neurosurgery. I would only go to the first hospital if I or a loved one was stroking out and had any choice. If not and it wouldn't create additional risk, I would transfer hospitals ASAP.
A TRO's legal standard is basically decided upon whether: Whether everything in the lawsuit plead is assumed to be true and it appears there could be a definite emergency leading to irrevocable harm. It does **not*** take actual proof of facts or even testimony to the true facts. Once a TRO is granted, the court **must** have a quick, later, factual hearing with both sides present and with both sides having the opportunity to be equally prepared. Evidence and arguments are presented (documents, testimony, statutes and case law) so the judge can fairly and formally decide whether the TRO should be made permanent, extended only for a definite period of time (short or long) or lifted completely (dissolved)(reversed).
The court papers were filed on Thursday. The emergency hearing was the next day. The emergency order only lasts through today's all encompassing emergency morning court hearing scheduled for today, which could already have been completed this very morning. This hearing and its timing would be any judge's very first priority under the law right now to the exclusion of any other allegedly important matters (even if a trial was a trial scheduled for today that was set five years ago for that day). Thedacare probably had to post a large bond as required by most TRO's.
I believe the employees **will be legally required to timely be paid** by Thedacare. More important, I hope as many of them worked or were on call just for this weekend at Thedacare- for the public good.
I also believe that Thedacare is WRONG. This could have all been prevented with employment contracts and agreed upon non-competes on how close (distance) the employees could work for usually one to three years after voluntarily leaving (as opposed to being fired).
More thoughts to come...
rfenst wrote:
