Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital, unions to go to trial over nurses’ firing

Jason Henry 

03/08/16

A battle between Huntington Memorial Hospital and the California Nurses Association will go before a judge this summer.

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the hospital last week after finding merit to nurses’ allegations that administrators tried to stymie their efforts to unionize. The matter boiled over last year when the hospital fired two nurses prominent in the movement.

“Nurses at HMH deserve a fair election without an illegal campaign of fear and intimidation,” said Lisa McInnes, a registered nurse, in a statement released by the National Nurses United Organizing Committee. “We deserve fairness, truth and the right to have a union so that we can make improvements to provide the quality care that our patients deserve.”

Last month, the NLRB said it found merit to the allegations, but that it would give Huntington Memorial Hospital time to settle the matter out of court before authorizing an official complaint and scheduling a hearing.

Because a settlement has not been made, an administrative law judge will hear the case June 6 at NLRB’s regional office in Los Angeles, according to a NLRB filing.

Huntington Memorial Hospital has called the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United’s efforts “a self-serving campaign to defame our 125-year-old institution.”

“It is not uncommon for the CNA/NNU to mis-characterize the federal labor law process and accuse an employer of violating the law,” said hospital spokesman Derek Clark in a statement. “This CNA/NNU tactic is especially common when it is trying to overturn an election it has lost, as is the case here where the majority of our nurses voted against union representation last year.”

The complaint issued by the NLRB alleges the hospital blocked off-duty employees and union representatives access to the hospital; interrogated employees about efforts to unionize; barred employees from talking about misconduct; and used “surveillance” to monitor employees pushing for unionization.

It also alleges the hospital fired nurses Allysha Almada and Vicki Lin to discourage involvement with the union.

The nurses’ union has asked for Almada’s and Lin’s reinstatement with back pay.