Hospital directing family member with Asthma to treat COVID patients

[Jchopk78]

Hi to all. *Due to the recent unfortunate situation with COVID-19, I have a family member in an unfortunate situation. *The family member is a registered nurse with Asthma. Her usual job it in a surgery center, separate from the hospital, that handles routine orthopedic surgery. *Due to the current outbreak, the elective surgery center has shuttered and all nurses in this system are being reassigned to the hospital to care for COVID-19 patients. There will be minimal training and placement is random. The problem is, she has Asthma. The hospital knows it but refuses guaranteed assignments away from that area. If she caught the virus, there is serious risk. The guidelines for the virus even say people with Asthma is at serious risk. *She has offered to basically not work without pay and without unemployment pay until the surgery center reopens. This was denied. If anyone refuses the assignment, they have been informed they will be terminated. She is basically saying she will have to quit and lose her benefits and retirement to keep from possibly contracting the virus and be at serious risk of death. Plus, if she takes a position, with minimal training, there is a chance of an error that would result in harm to the patient. *Is there any recourse to this at all? *It’s in the state of Mississippi.*

[ULA]

Hi I am really sorry to hear about your family member's situation. However this is a UK site and my experience is in UK law only, sorry I cannot provide any advice on employment laws in the USA.

Stay safe and well*