GARDEN CITY, New York — Ten Filipino nurses cleared last year of misdemeanor charges for quitting their jobs at a Long Island nursing home have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.

The nurses were recruited from the Philippines to help ease a staffing shortage in the U.S., but resigned en masse in 2006 in a dispute over working conditions.

Prosecutors claimed they endangered sick patients. But a state appellate court ruled the prosecution was unconstitutional.

The case attracted headlines in Manila. Hearings were held in 2007 in the Philippines' Senate and House of Representatives.

The lawsuit names the nursing home, as well as prosecutors, as defendants. Neither a nursing home attorney, nor the Suffolk County attorney, immediately commented. (AP)