United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division Grants Injunction Against Affinity Medical Center

On January 24, 2014, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division granted an injunction filed by Frederick J. Calatrello, Regional Director for Region 8 (Cleveland) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against DHSC, LLD, which does business as Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, Ohio.  The court found that the NLRB had reasonable cause to believe that Affinity Medical Center violated the National Labor Relations Act when the company disciplined and fired a long-tenured orthopedic nurse who was a union supporter, limited access to its property to a union representative, and refused to recognize or bargain with the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), the nurses’ recently-certified collective bargaining representative.  
The court ordered Affinity to cease and desist from disciplining, discharging and reporting its employees to the State Board of Nursing because of their union activities, sympathies, or support.  Further, the court ordered the company to “recognize, and upon request, bargain in good faith with the union as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the employees concerning their wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.”  Lastly, the company was ordered to stop imposing more onerous working conditions on employees because the employees engaged in protected concerted activities and/or union activities.