Union workers at Minneapolis-based Hennepin County Medical Center have asked county commissioners to launch an outside investigation into management’s alleged treatment of workers, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported July 10.
Unionized medical assistants, physical therapists and mental health workers held a news conference outside the hospital asking for commissioners to initiate an investigation into the hospital’s “internal culture, management practices and personnel decisions,” according to the report.
Sellano Simmons, an attorney representing some of the workers, alleged that employees who “raise legitimate concerns are met with retaliation, not collaboration. Those who offer constructive dissent are pushed aside, excluded or removed.”
“Most concerning of all, women of color, who are already navigating systemic obstacles, are being disproportionately penalized for speaking out,” said Mr. Simmons, who had also sent commissioners a letter in May seeking an independent investigation.
At the news conference, some workers alleged that colleagues were unfairly disciplined, passed over for promotion, demoted or fired for speaking out against practices they felt were unfair or discriminatory, according to the report.
Hennepin Healthcare, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit system that operates HCMC, said in a statement shared with Becker’s that it “prohibits harassment or discrimination in the workplace and promptly commenced an independent investigation of the allegations brought forward by this [Mr. Simmons] clients once we were made aware of them.”
“The investigation is ongoing,” the statement said. “We are committed to a work environment that welcomes diverse individuals and perspectives and treats every patient and employee with respect and dignity.”
