Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Inc. d/b/a VSP

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

May 27, 2020

05-RC-244319 (N.L.R.B. May. 27, 2020)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
SINAI HOSPITAL OF BALTIMORE, INC.
d/b/a VSP
Employer
and Case 05-RC-244319
1199 SEIU UNITED HEALTHCARE
WORKERS EAST
Petitioner
ORDER
The Employer’s Request for Review of the Acting Regional Director’s Decision and
Direction of Election is denied as it raises no substantial issues warranting review.1 The
Employer’s request for a stay is denied as moot.
1 In denying review of the Acting Regional Director’s determination that the petitioned-
for janitors do not have a “primarily rehabilitative” relationship with the Employer, and therefore
constitute statutory employees, we rely additionally on Davis Memorial Goodwill Industries, 318
NLRB 1044 (1995), enf. denied 108 F.3d 406 (D.C. Cir. 1997), and Lighthouse for the Blind of
Houston, 244 NLRB 1144, 1147 (1979), enfd. 696 F.2d 399 (5th Cir. 1983). In addition, we find
the Employer’s discipline/discharge practices and lack of placement of disabled janitors into
outside employment, as described below, to be particularly compelling evidence that the
Employer does not have a primarily rehabilitative relationship with the disabled janitors.
Regarding discipline/discharge, although the record suggests that the Employer
oftentimes initially attempts to informally counsel disabled (and nondisabled) janitors for
problematic behavior or work performance, the Employer has also formally disciplined and, in
some instances, discharged disabled janitors for a number of infractions, including punctuality
issues, attendance issues, hygiene issues, inappropriate behavior, and unsatisfactory performance
of job duties, as well as for taking unauthorized breaks, failing to put supplies away, and falling
asleep on the job. The Employer does not refer individuals who demonstrate unsatisfactory job
performance or problematic behavior for additional training or attempt to reassign them to
different positions; instead, the Employer discharges those individuals and designates them as
ineligible for rehire. Further, the Employer has discharged disabled janitors during their
mandatory probationary periods.
Regarding job placement, the Employer does not employ any job-placement counselors
or maintain a formal job-placement program, and, in the five years prior to the hearing, the
Employer had helped transition only a small number of disabled janitors into outside
employment. This is especially significant compared to the number of disabled janitors that it
had discharged during that period.
JOHN F. RING, CHAIRMAN
MARVIN E. KAPLAN, MEMBER
WILLIAM J. EMANUEL, MEMBER
Dated, Washington, D.C., May 27, 2020.