BOUND BROOK — Somerset Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center's parent company and a health-care workers union are embroiled in a battle before the National Labor Relations Board.
The union, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, has filed several National Labor Relations Board complaints against the nursing home, which is owned by Care One, New Jersey's second largest nursing-home company.
The union's charges include that the nursing home owners interfered with the union election, which was held Sept. 2, and "illegally terminated" four employees and disciplined others who supported the union.
Care One spokesman Peter J. Ward said his company filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging campaign misconduct against the union asking for a new election.
"We are vigorously defending the union's baseless allegations and pursuing justice for our employees at the center," Ward said.
United Healthcare Workers East attorney Ellen Dichner said the employees want their jobs back.
"These are all people who had very good employee records until after Sept. 2," Dichner said.
The union filed the first labor charge on Aug. 31 stating that the employees had been unlawfully interrogated.
On Sept. 10 other batch of complaints including that Care One summoned the police to remove a union representative standing on the driveway of the property.
Complaints the union filed Sept. 21 alleged that the company fired two more union supporters and issued disciplinary notices.
Dichner said there reasons were for minor infractions that hadn't been mentioned prior to Sept. 2. For example, one employee was suddenly written up for being a minute or two late 112 times since January, Dichner said.
Shannon Napolitano was dismissed from her position as a Licensed Practical Nurse following the union election.
Napolitano worked at Somerset for two years and for the Care One chain of nursing homes for five years.
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