OCEANSIDE - Four nurses fired by Tri-City Medical Center in May will pursue arbitration to try to keep their jobs, a union representative said Tuesday.

The nurses are among 10 hospital employees that Tri-City officials said on May 11 would be fired over an incident in which cell-phone cameras were used to photograph a patient's X-ray.

In arbitration, an independent judge, selected by both the hospital and the union, will review each case and decide whether each nurse should lose his or her job.

John Stead-Mendez, a representative for the California Nurses Association, said Tuesday that there is no proof that two of the nurses ever snapped a photo of the X-ray or of any other record.

"This is one of those cases where they (the four nurses) have absolutely clean records," Stead-Mendez said.

Tri-City spokesman Jeff Segall said Tuesday that the hospital can't comment on the case now that it has entered arbitration.

It has been three months since Tri-City announced that the employees - five nurses, three secretaries and two technicians - would be fired after an investigation turned up evidence that some had inappropriately viewed, photographed or disseminated at least one patient's X-ray in violation of federal and hospital privacy rules.

One of those employees resigned, Segall said Tuesday. The hospital subsequently reduced the punishment for one of the five nurses, allowing her to keep her job. The four other nurses have continued to fight their firings.

The five non-nursing employees - who are not represented by a union - have all lost their jobs, Segall said.

Stead-Mendez said Tuesday that the contract between Tri-City and the nurses union provides for a grievance process. He said that the hospital has already rejected grievances filed by the four nurses and arbitration is the next and final step in the process.

When a grievance goes to arbitration, the hospital and the union start with a list of possible arbitrators and then take turns striking names until only a single judge is left, Stead-Mendez said in a previous interview. He said each of the four nurses in this case will have his or her own arbitrator, who will review their case at a private, one-day hearing in October or November.

Stead-Mendez said that all four of the nurses have already found jobs at other North County hospitals, but still wish to pursue their grievances against Tri-City.

"They would like to go back to work where their friends are, where they're recognized as leaders of their departments," he said, adding that some may stay where they are but may seek back pay lost after they were terminated.

- Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.