Nurse Fired Over COVID Complaints Reinstated

A New Jersey ER nurse and former union leader has been reinstated to his job with perks, after being fired by a hospital system early during the pandemic when he publicly shared work conditions and asked management to address them.

An arbitrator on Friday ordered Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) to reappoint Adam Witt, RN, to its Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune -- with back pay, benefits, and full seniority. That's according to his union, which said the arbitrator also ruled HMH lacked just cause to fire Witt.

"I'm looking forward to getting back," Witt told NJ.com. "I don't entirely know what to expect. ... There are people who, at the very least, bent the facts, and for me, the vindication will come, looking them in the eye as I return to work."

The hospital system hinted that it may appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, Witt's union has filed charges against HMH, alleging that the system intimidated and harassed healthcare workers during a union election last fall at the Jersey Shore center. It is also alleging HMH violated the National Labor Relations Act by intentionally hanging posters of Witt where colleagues could see them, said Debbie White, RN, president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), which represents 14,000 frontline healthcare workers.

Witt, 44, was the union local chapter president when the pandemic struck. Appalled by the dearth of available N95 masks and other working conditions at Jersey Shore, Witt spoke to management and posted his observations on social media, according to reports.

One day in late March 2020, HMH management asked Witt to attend a colleague's disciplinary hearing for posting about potential exposure at the hospital on a private Facebook page. He could take a "union day" as permitted by his contract. Witt emailed his supervisor requesting the day off, White said, but the email was never returned as Witt continued his shift. He then attended the hearing.

When he returned to work, he was told he had taken an unauthorized day off. Witt was suspended March 31 and fired a few days later, with the system citing insubordination. On March 31, posters were hung around the facility with a mugshot of Witt, saying he was "not allowed on property. ... If he is seen on property please contact your supervisor immediately."

"Our doctors and nurses are soldiers fighting a war," an HMH spokeswoman said in an email to NJ.com last June. "Adam Witt abandoned his shift. He was terminated because he went AWOL, not for the 'reasons' now being suggested by him or his surrogates. At all times -- but especially during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis -- his first responsibility should have been to the patients at Jersey Shore."

On the Reddit thread where Witt started disclosing what happened to him in April 2020, he wrote: "Problems multiplied during the hospital's response to Covid-19 and I, and the other nurses on the board, became increasingly outspoken. I guess some people didn't like that."

Witt was actually fired "because he was so vocal," White said. "Adam was a fierce, fierce advocate for worker safety." He was also disciplined to scare coworkers, White said: "You fired the union president for taking a union day off?!" HMH sought "to play gotcha, to set him up," she said.

The arbitrator ultimately ruled that Witt was terminated because of a miscommunication. The arbitrator added: "In these circumstances, posting a 'wanted' poster of the Local President at security stations where it is seen by Union members necessarily has the effect of chilling Union activity."

HMH declined to talk with MedPage Today, instead issuing a statement via email Monday: "While we continue to review the arbitrator's decision to determine next steps, we are pleased that the arbitrator found that Mr. Witt's termination action did not violate important federal laws (the [NLRA] and [OSHA]) and that it was not related to any complaints he may have made about safety and health protocols in the early stages of the pandemic."

OSHA cited Jersey Shore for workplace violations late last year, fining it $38,555 regarding issues with masks and other personal protective equipment. The HMH system had 19 OSHA complaints filed against it during 2020 alone, according to data shared by the union. White said OSHA has issued citations for some of those -- and more in 2021.

"But the fines are pretty minimal," Witt told NJ.com in May. "During this time, hospital staff had to suffer through the standards OSHA ultimately cited HMH for. In the same way that my arbitration has taken over a year to be heard, the system to support workers is stacked in the employer's favor, especially when the employer has deep pockets."

HMH is a 17-hospital nonprofit system with over 7,000 doctors and 500 patient locations, according to its website; Jersey Shore is one of its four academic hospitals. The system, the largest in the state, earned $6.9 billion in operating revenue in 2020, Fierce Healthcare reported.

The Federal Trade Commission held up a proposed merger between HMH and Englewood Health earlier this year, according to reports. The deal would "eliminate" competition in the state's most populous county and permit HMH to demand higher rates from payors. The health systems have appealed the ruling. HMH was created in 2016 via the merger of Meridian Health and Hackensack University Medical Center.

Witt is one of many providers who have been disciplined for fighting employers' pandemic working conditions, including doctors who have spoken publicly. Another nurse, Cliff Willmeng, was reinstated without back pay at an Allina Health hospital in Minnesota in May after being fired in May 2020. Allina has appealed the arbitrator's decision, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous because of being tied to the case.

MedPage Today was unable to obtain the arbitrator's decision, which White said will not be legally public information until at least a month from Friday. She said she did not know when the grievances may be heard.

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