Labor unions representing healthcare workers as well as teachers, transit operators and other front-line workers are suing the federal government over its alleged failure to provide adequate protective gear and other medical supplies to essential workers.
Filed Oct. 8, the lawsuit calls on HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Chad Wolf, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to immediately invoke the full powers of the Defense Production Act to supply front-line workers with sufficient personal protective equipment.
"It's difficult for healthcare workers to get supplies on a daily basis because employers are conserving what they have, and having to ask or find PPE on our own is a horrible practice,” said Denise Abbott, an emergency room nurse in Buffalo, N.Y., and a member of one of the labor unions included in the lawsuit.