HealthBridge Management LLC and affiliated company CareOne Management LLC today filed a RICO lawsuit against New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU, claiming that the union has ?been engaged in a long-term pattern of criminal sabotage, intimidation and other acts of extortion in a coordinated illegal campaign in which the affiliates have threatened to put the two companies out of business if they do not yield to the union?s demands.?
RICO is the acronym for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.
The suit is the latest chapter in a brutal battle between HealthBridge and the union, which represents workers at five HealthBridge-owned nursing facilities ? West River Health Care in Milford, Danbury Health Care Center, Long Ridge in Stamford, Newington Health Care Center, and Westport Health Care Center.
Workers at those five homes went on strike July 3 in in response to implementation of a ?last, best and final? contract imposed by HealthBridge after more than a year of fruitless contract negotiations. Though HealthBridge claims the new guidelines provide a raise to workers, the union, New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU argues the contract takes much away from employees, including health insurance and pension contributions.
The two parties have been locked in ugly combat since before the strike. Late last year, HealthBridge locked out West River employees. The lockout lasted for three months. After the strike started, the company accused workers of various acts of sabotage at the Danbury, Newington and Long Ridge sites.
The RICO suit is related to those allegations and states the alleged acts of sabotage put the lives of the elderly and frail patients at direct and immediate risk. The suit also cites numerous instances of personal attacks against one of the indirect owners of the two companies, Daniel E. Straus, that the suit says are designed to seek to intimidate him by invading his privacy, harassing him and impeding business and philanthropic activities of his that are totally unrelated to the two companies.
In a joint press release, CareOne and HealthBridge stressed that they have worked cooperatively with unions in the past and fully respect and embrace the collective bargaining process. They said the suit is not about collective bargaining or other traditional labor activity but instead involves what is effectively economic terrorism, and that the suit seeks to end the campaign of extortionate demands and myriad unlawful tactics used against the companies by the two affiliates.
The suit refers repeatedly to the actions against the two companies that the suit says are taken directly from the SEIU?s ?Campaign Contract Manual,? available here. The manual was made public as an outgrowth of the 2011 suit against the SEIU filed by Sodexo USA. The SEIU eventually settled the suit.
HealthBridge and CareOne are separate independent but affiliated companies that operate long-term nursing care and assisted living healthcare facilities for the elderly. HealthBridge manages 34 facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts; CareOne manages 17 facilities in New Jersey. Corporate offices for both companies are located in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
HealthBridge also filed a RICO suit against New Jersey United Healthcare Workers East.
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