[link removed] [[link removed]]“Hospitals have warned, disciplined and even fired staff members who went public with workplace concerns about coronavirus precautions.”
( The New York Times , 4/9/20)

Dear John:

Since we last wrote to you about protecting health care whistleblowers [[link removed]] , the momentum is growing.

Today’s New York Times featured the stories [[link removed]] of health care workers around the country who have faced retaliation and even termination for speaking out about conditions in their hospitals.

Tasha Smith, a nurse at Mount Sinai, said she had been fired after complaining to her boss that she was uncomfortable treating coronavirus patients without proper equipment. Her abrupt firing frightened fellow nurses. “They’re afraid to speak up,” she told the Times . “I was made an example of.”

These health care workers are bravely speaking up to help keep all of us informed and safe.

Let’s keep up the momentum! If you haven’t yet, please take a minute and SIGN ON to support health care professionals who have been disciplined or fired for sounding the alarm about conditions at their hospitals. They deserve respect, not retaliation → [[link removed]]

SIGN ON [[link removed]]Earlier this week, I wrote an op-ed [[link removed]] in the Daily News calling attention to this issue. I shared in that piece that I’ll be introducing a bill to protect these health care workers from retaliation along with Councilmembers Mark Levine, Ben Kallos, Carlina Rivera, and Adrienne Adams.

We can raise our voices together to draw more attention to this issue, and put more pressure on executives to treat medical staff with respect.

Thank you so much for taking action. Stay safe and support one another -- and Chag Sameach and a Good Friday to all who celebrate,

-- Brad

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Team Lander <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 5:13 PM
Subject: Protect health care workers who sound the alarm
To: [email protected]

SIGN ON: Protect medical staff who tell the truth! Ensure whistleblower protections for hospital workers → [[link removed]]

Dear John:

From inside the NYC hospitals on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, doctors and medical staff have been telling their urgent stories on social media and to the press. From the beginning, they have been sounding the alarm about the dangerous conditions and the shameful shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Unfortunately, some medical facilities are cracking down on this vital and potentially life-saving sharing of information.

Staff at NYU Langone Health received an email warning against “posts that do not reflect positively on the integrity of our hospitals.”

The email stated: “Anyone who does not adhere to this policy, or speaks or disseminates information to the media without the explicit permission of the Office of Communications and Marketing, will be subject to disciplinary action, including termination.”

At Mount Sinai, nurses blew the whistle on PPE shortages by posting pictures of themselves in garbage bags. Along with gowns, they received warning notices about their jobs as well.

Health care workers are already risking their health to save lives. They should not also have to risk their jobs to tell the truth!

Brad is working with fellow councilmembers and a wide coalition of health care unions and worker’s rights advocates on a bill to ensure whistleblower protections for health care workers. Will you join the campaign to protect health care workers who are speaking out? [[link removed]]

SIGN ON [[link removed]] At a time when the very lives of our hospital and health care workers are on the line, it is unconscionable that they would be fired for ringing the alarm bell about health and safety issues. Our bill would prevent doctors and nurses from losing their jobs if they speak publicly about conditions in their hospitals.This isn’t a problem in just a handful of facilities. Last week, POLITICO reported that they’d heard from eleven medical professionals across various health systems in New York City who “signed nondisclosure agreements, had contracts that stipulated they not speak with the press without consent from their employer or feared losing their jobs if they spoke out publicly.” A doctor in Washington State was already fired for speaking out on social media about the shortage of personal protective equipment.

As one NYC hospital worker anonymously told POLITICO: “I am very afraid I would be fired for [sharing the guidance with a reporter], which just makes me think they are more afraid of their image than actually having the patients cared for… I am a valuable asset, yet the fact that I am speaking up for my patients, colleagues and myself would have me terminated is not okay. It is an injustice that they overrule us with fear.”

It is worth noting that this new legislation was inspired by legislation Brad has been pushing for months that would protect fast food workers from unfair firings. Whether you're a doctor, a fast-food, or an Amazon worker, if you speak up, your employer shouldn’t be able to retaliate against you.

Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are putting their lives on the line -- the least we can do is protect their jobs so that they can keep speaking out about critical conditions.

SIGN ON to support our bill ensuring whistleblower protections for health care workers. We need to send a strong message that New Yorkers stand in solidarity with health care staff who are getting the truth out → [[link removed]]

Protect Whistleblowers! [[link removed]]Thank you so much,

-- Team Lander

Lander for NYC
456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Suite 2
Brooklyn, NY 11215
[email protected]

[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]

unsubscribe: [link removed]
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here. [[link removed]]