Regal Health & Rehab LPNs win justice at National Labor Relations Board
“This is great! I can’t wait to get back to the work," said Diane Rounds, LPN at Regal Health & Rehab, after learning that the National Labor Relations Board had issued a strong decision that she and two of her LPN co-workers, LaVerne Harper and Michael Thurman, had been unlawfully fired at Regal Health and Rehab in Oak Lawn.
The Board also decided that Michael Lerner and his GEM Healthcare company had conducted a campaign of intimidation, threats of blackballing and harassment after the LPNs had requested representation by SEIU Healthcare Illinois. Then, in a rare move, the Board recognized the nurses’ plea for representation and ordered Lerner to begin bargaining immediately.
This is the second time in two weeks that the Board has ruled against Michael Lerner’s treatment of his nursing staff-- the first in a strong decision on behalf of CNAs at Camelot Terrace in Streator, and now for the nurses in Oak Lawn.
SEIU Healthcare President Keith Kelleher added, “We are very gratified that the Board is upholding the rights of healthcare workers at Lerner’s nursing homes. We intend to forward these decisions to the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Attorney General in support of our request to place the four Lerner/GEM facilities into receivership. This kind of behavior on Lerner’s part is symptomatic of his management style that has led to high staff turnover rates, large numbers of violations in providing care and shrinking censuses at his homes.”
Read more coverage in the Southtown StarLearn more about workers' fight for to protect quality care at Michael Lerner's GEM Healthcare facilities