NEWINGTON - Health Bridge Management has had its share of legal defeats recently--the New England Health Care Employees Union’s successful bid for an injunction that ordered that striking employees be offered their jobs back under their current labor contract, followed by a series of Second Circuit Appellate and U.S. Supreme Court appeal denials--but the company got a break last week.

       The Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted Health Bridge an expedited appeal, which means that the merits of the injunction will be examined by the end of April.

       “It doesn’t have any immediate effect in terms of return to work, but the case will be heard sooner than it usually would,” said New England Health Care Employees Union Communications Director Deborah Chernoff.

       The motion that was denied, an emergency stay, was filed strictly for the purpose of delaying the restraining order, not arguing whether or not the Second Circuit was correct in issuing it. Health Bridge put in for the expedited appeal around the same time, Chernoff said.

       “We are extremely pleased that the Second Circuit has granted our motion for expedited appeal in this important case,” said Health Bridge’s Lisa Crutchfield in a statement issued by the company last week. “As we have said from the outset, we believe the District Court’s decision to grant injunctive relief unnecessarily short circuits the established venue �" the ongoing NLRB trial �" in which this issue should be resolved.”

       Although the National Labor Relations Board is in the process of taking Health Bridge to court on labor violation charges pertaining to the company’s termination and imposition of the new labor contract that prompted the strike, as well as a December lockout of employees at its Milford facility, Chernoff has emphasized the importance of returning striking union members to work so that they are not waiting for what can be a lengthy legal proceeding to conclude.

       The employees, who have been striking over proposed labor contract changes since July, were slated to return to work on March 3.

       The granting of the expedited appeal comes at the heels of Health Bridge’s filing for bankruptcy, a move that, the union alleges, was made in an effort to use the bankruptcy court’s power to modify contracts to protect businesses to avoid having to abide by the conditions of the restraining order.

       The Hartford Courant reported minimums of $2.3 million in losses at each of five Connecticut nursing homes from which employees went on strike in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 29. Strike preparation, including $12.5 million spent to hire replacement workers, coupled with declining revenues at the highlighted homes contributed to the company’s financial woes, according to The Hartford Courant.

       While the company has cited increased healthcare costs as its reason behind a new labor contract that included reduced hours, a 50 percent cut in the number of sick days, higher health insurance deductibles and the elimination of an employee pension system in exchange for a 401K retirement plan, Chernoff estimates that Health Bridge spent at least $3 million in legal fees in its attempt to fight the injunction.

       “All of that money could have gone back into the contract,” she said.