ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — As 15,000 registered nurses across Minnesota prepare for a possible strike, some say they're witnessing discrimination and harassment. The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) points to an alleged incident at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale.
The nurses union claims that on August 12, a group was meeting in the hospital's cafeteria, conducting official union business, when hospital security approached. MNA co-chair and North Memorial nurse Shiori Konda-Muhammad was there. She says flyers with union messaging had been distributed onto cafeteria tables the evening prior during a separate event.
"Initially, security came by to just to say things about the signs," Konda-Muhammad said. "They also mentioned that there was some concerns about being aggressive and also using profanity loudly in the public."
She says security addressed the concerns to just one individual: an MNA staff member of color, who doesn't work at the hospital. Konda-Muhammad says he wasn't aggressive and hadn't used profanity.
"They came back actually later, I don't know maybe 10 minutes later also, came back with similar concerns," she said. "I believe that he was targeted because he was a person of color."
Friday, MNA sent a letter to the hospital, calling for "immediate recognition and adoption of policies that will reduce these issues of racial bias and harassment from occurring in the future at the bargaining table."
"North Memorial serves a diverse community here," Konda-Muhammad said. "We need to send a message that we don't tolerate that."
The hospital responded to KARE 11's inquiries about what happened with the following statement:
On August 12, two North Memorial Health security officers responded to a request to check on an unknown man in our Robbinsdale cafeteria displaying unusual behavior, including the use of profanities. The individual identified himself as an MNA employee to our security officers, and they requested that he refrain from engaging in disruptive behavior in our cafeteria, which is used by our patients and their family members. We are deeply committed to providing a safe environment for our patients, team members and visitors. We also take allegations of racial discrimination and harassment very seriously. Our investigation is ongoing.
- North Memorial Health
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