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Largest NYC hospital tries to stop safe staffing arbitration hearing and fails

New York, N.Y.—On Thursday, Aug. 22, lawyers for NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (NYPBMH) and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) went to federal court in Brooklyn. NYPBMH attempted to obtain an injunction to block an arbitrator from hearing evidence from the two parties concerning chronic understaffing originally scheduled for Aug. 26. Federal judge Nina Morrison threw out the petition for the pre-hearing injunction and expressed concern that the Hospital’s effort was a waste of time and resources for the court and the parties.

NYP hoped to delay the arbitration of a case concerning nurses at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist who allege understaffing in 4 interconnected units— the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); the Pediatric ICU; Pediatrics; and Mother-baby. More than a year’s worth of the hospital’s own staffing data demonstrates the hospital’s consistent violation of safe staffing standards that put patients at risk.

However, in continued effort to avoid accountability for the staffing crisis that plagues NYP-Methodist and other hospitals within its network, NYP’s attorneys incredibly claimed the hospital would suffer “irreparable harm” by proceeding with the safe staffing arbitration it had agreed to. Calling out the hospital’s thinly veiled delay tactics, the judge dressed down the hospital’s legal team for bringing the case at all, saying: “I really have grave concerns about the fact that this case was brought at all to this Court” (NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist v. New York State Nurses Association, 24-cv-05750-NRM (Eastern District of New York, August 22, 2024), Transcript of Civil Cause for Order to Show Cause, at *62).

Judge Morrison emphasized the importance of staffing at the hospital and explained that: “Because you brought it to this Court and because of the issues at stake with maternity ward staffing, a labor dispute that affects the community, we had to give it due time and due care” (Transcript at 63).

The judge went on to agree with NYSNA that NYP’s legal maneuver was without merit and amounted to a form of “gamesmanship” to avoid an arbitration about the important matter of safe staffing (Transcript at 57). She concluded by opening the door to NYSNA to seek sanctions including legal fees against NYP-Brooklyn Methodist’s attorneys for bringing such a meritless suit, saying “I think the union has a legitimate claim that they had to expend unnecessary time and resources in addressing what I found to be a plainly meritless application” (Transcript at 64). NYSNA is considering this option.

In a particularly unusual move, the judge ordered NYP-Brooklyn Methodist’s attorneys to provide an “expedited transcript” of the proceeding to their client, the hospital, so that it would be aware of her concern that the attorneys were wasting their resources (Transcript at 64).

Methodist nurses were excited to finally move ahead with their first arbitration last Friday, Aug. 30, with two more scheduled in the coming months. NYSNA made opening statements and presented a few witnesses regarding understaffing in the four interconnected mother-baby units of the hospital.

This latest court case follows NYP’s recent unprecedented step of suing to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling that found it understaffed its cardiothoracic ICU and awarded nurses who worked extremely understaffed over $270,000 in financial restitution. Although NYP’s lawsuit will likely be thrown out, it is causing delays in the standard labor-management arbitration process.

There are currently six active arbitration cases concerning safe staffing at a number of NYP hospitals, including Brooklyn Methodist, both the Children’s and Adult Hospitals on the Columbia campus, and Allen Hospital. NYSNA nurses are concerned that patient safety will continue to suffer as NYP uses its substantial resources to avoid accountability for safe staffing, instead of hiring and retaining enough nurses to consistently deliver quality care.

NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, CNOR, said: “The judge saw right through NewYork-Presbyterian’s attempts to delay being held accountable for violating the safe staffing standards in their contract. It’s a shame to watch NYC’s largest hospital use its wealth to play games with everyone’s time instead of investing in safe patient care. It’s disrespectful to the court system, to nurses, and most importantly, to patients.”

To date, NYSNA nurses have won two arbitration rulings against NYP, the first in December 2023 over staffing in the Children’s Hospital NICU, and the second in May 2024 over staffing in the cardio-thoracic ICU at Columbia. New York State law establishes a maximum of 2 critical care patients per nurse, so NYP has not only violated safe staffing standards in the nurses’ union contract, but also in New York state law.

The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.

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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and

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