"The University of Virginia Medical Center’s decision to offer jobs to three of nine employees recently fired because of their felony records did little to appease a crowd of about 70 protesters at a rally Friday.

“Nine were innocent. Nine were fired. We won’t give up till nine are rehired,” the group chanted in front of the medical center.

Protesters carried signs bearing messages such as “Safety Not Scapegoating,” “Image Over Rights Is Wrong” and “Who Takes the Fall For Management Mistakes?” The rally was sponsored by the Labor Action Group at UVa and the local chapter of the NAACP.

“We have recently heard that three of the fired employees are eligible for rehire. This is obviously good news,” Susan Fraiman of the Labor Action Group said at the rally. “But we have not come together because three people were unfairly fired, we have come together because nine employees would have their jobs today except for the fact that UVa is facing a public relations disaster. Nine employees were fired through no fault of their own, and we are holding this rally to demand that all be reinstated with back pay.”

Susan Fraiman (center)

The hospital announced in May that it had fired nine employees with felony convictions who were either temporary workers or permanent workers hired less than six months earlier. Permanent employees are on probation for the first six months on the job.

The felony convictions include writing bad checks, drug possession and a firearm charge.

“The University Nine,” as activists have dubbed them, were not given any prior notice or severance pay. Eight of the nine fired employees are black. Five are men and four are women.

" "I was robbed of my livelihood and dignity," said Mary Smith, one of those fired. "It was a great humiliation to all of us." Smith said she noted her felony conviction on her job application. She was nonetheless hired as a receptionist. She was convicted of a felony for writing bad checks four years ago. Smith said she was told she was doing a good job but had to be fired. She was discharged May 29. "I have paid my debt to society," she said. "They're picking on the low man on the totem pole so they can cover their butts" " (Carlos Santos, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 9, 2001).

The firings came after a patient care assistant and convicted felon was charged May 15 with the rape of a patient in the psychiatric ward.

“We are not comforted by your decision to fire probationary staff with past non-violent felony convictions, some of which happened as long ago as 10 years,” Jeanine Woodruff, executive director of the Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault, said at the rally. “You may have thought that this would garner some sense of satisfaction within the community, but you are wrong.”

Joy Johnson, of the Public Housing Association of Residents, questioned the logic behind the firings.

“If a woman wrote bad checks 10 years ago and has no patient contact, is she likely to rape a patient?” Johnson asked.

Joy Johnson

Hospital officials have said the employees were fired, in part, because they failed to provide complete information about their felony convictions on their job applications. But copies of five of the applications show that the information was disclosed.

Leonard W. Sandridge, UVa’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, declined to identify the employees being rehired. He said the main criteria used in deciding who would be rehired were the nature of the felony convictions, when they occurred and whether the employees disclosed the convictions.

A medical center spokeswoman said the three employees are being offered jobs through letters mailed Friday. She stressed that being rehired is different from being reinstated, meaning that they may not be offered the same jobs they had.

" But protesters, many of whom were U.Va. employees, want all nine hired with back pay. Even Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Chapman was on hand to lend support. Though a tough prosecutor, Chapman said he believed it was "just plain wrong . . . to fire on the basis of past felony convictions." He said he knows of physicians and other health specialists who have been arrested for felonies for addiction to drugs but managed to avoid convictions. "Their behavior was the same, but it's not being called into question" " (Carlos Santos, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 9, 2001).

" Ed Wayland, a Charlottesville attorney who spoke at the rally, said the firings were "unfair, irrational and almost certainly illegal. . . . They were picking on people the least able to fight back. They were made scapegoats for errors committed by others higher up in the administration." No other employees, including administrators, have been fired because of the allegations of unsafe conditions on the ward" (Carlos Santos, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 9, 2001).

Cindy Marshall, one of the fired employees, said at the rally that she’s outraged by her dismissal.

“I paid for my mistake and don’t feel I should keep being punished,” said Marshall, who has a felony record for check forgery and writing bad checks. “If I am to be fired, it should be because of something I did, not something someone else did” " (Claudia Pinto, The Daily Progress, June 9, 2001).

Cindy Marshall (center)