On February 1, 2010, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in
favor of Good Samaritan Hospital Los Angeles, represented by Jeffer
Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP, and against the Service Employees
International, United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU or the Union),
overturning a union decertification election narrowly won by SEIU in
April 2008. The ruling was based on findings that SEIU attempted to
bribe voting members before an election that would have allowed Hospital
employees to choose or reject union representation.
Ten days before voting began, 126 SEIU members received checks from SEIU
which, in an announcement made more than a week later, the Union claimed
were the reimbursement of union dues that the Hospital had allegedly
over-deducted from the paychecks of employees. The announcement also
suggested that the over-deductions may have been intentional and warned
that employees would have no recourse against their employer without a
union.
In most cases, the employees were reimbursed for much more than they
were owed, sometimes as much as three times the correct amount. Some
voting employees received reimbursements that were not owed; others
should have received checks but did not. Overall, the Union sent checks
for $12,000 over what employees were actually owed.
The NLRB concluded that the Union’s distribution of reimbursement checks
improperly interfered with the election results and, therefore,
overturned the election and ordered that a new election take place. SEIU
had won the election by a slim margin, with 209 employees voting in
favor of the Union and 180 supporting decertification.
This is Good Samaritan’s second round against SEIU. The decertification
election in 2008 was a re-run of a 2007 election arising out of the same
decertification petition. SEIU won that election by an extremely narrow
margin, but the election was overturned after the NLRB found that the
Union had interfered with results by engaging in bribery and verbal and
physical coercion.
"Our employees provide outstanding service to our patients and we value
our relationship with them," saidAndrew Leeka, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Good Samaritan Hospital Los Angeles.
"They deserve to make a decision about representation that is free from
coercion and bribery."
About Good Samaritan Hospital Los Angeles
Good Samaritan Hospital is a world-class nonprofit medical center
affiliated with the USC Keck School of Medicine and is named as one of
America´s 50 Best Hospitals, 2007-2009, by HealthGrades, the
nation´s leading independent healthcare ratings company. The tertiary
medical center´s acclaimed programs include eight nationally recognized
centers of excellence (cardiovascular
diseases, neurosciences,
orthopedics,
kidney
stone service, gastroenterology,
perinatology/neonatology,
tertiary
retinal surgery and transfusion-free
medicine & surgery) and other specialties supported by
distinguished physicians with national and international reputations.
For more information, visit goodsam.org.
About Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP
JMBM is a full service law firm committed to providing clients with
results. JMBM
Labor & Employment Partner, Marta
Fernandez, represents employers in state and federal employment
litigation, wage and hour issues, National Labor Relations Board
practice, management/union relations, discrimination claims,
administrative proceedings; she and the members of JMBM´s Labor &
Employment Department provide general advice and counseling in all labor
and employment areas. From its offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Orange County, JMBM serves its clients needs worldwide. For more
information, visit JMBM.com.
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP
Marta Fernandez,
310-201-3534
mfernandez@jmbm.com
