A team of attorneys from Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP—Amelia K. Tuminaro, Jessica E. Harris, and Alicia Graziano—secured a major legal victory for unionized nurses at Clara Maass Medical Center, after a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge found the hospital retaliated against staff for protected union activity. The ruling reinforces key protections for union activity and serves as a significant precedent for labor rights in healthcare workplaces.
In a decision issued Friday, Administrative Law Judge Michael A. Rosas ruled that the hospital’s actions—including placing eight nurses on administrative leave, disciplining seven, and firing one—were motivated by “antiunion animus.” The judge ordered Clara Maass to reinstate the terminated nurse, Gloria Eng, and reimburse all affected nurses for lost wages and benefits.
The case centered around an April 2023 incident in which Eng, after being suspended for allegedly restraining a patient during a medical procedure, helped organize a petition and letter signed by about 140 fellow nurses. When Eng and a group of other nurses attempted to deliver the petition to supervisor Bianca Michel, the hospital responded by disciplining the nurses and firing Eng. Judge Rosas ruled that the nurses’ conduct was protected concerted activity and rejected the hospital’s claims that the nurses’ behavior warranted discipline.
The nurses are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.