SEIU Reiterates Call for Nurse Unity in Light of Legal Ruling Condemning CNA for Use of 'Half Truths'

OAKLAND, CA - A legal ruling in California yesterday found that the California Nurses Association's petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) earlier this year against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its president, Andrew Stern, was a "SLAPP" motion designed to suppress free speech. The court's finding that "CNA obtained a TRO by the use of incorrect statements and "'half-truths'" entitles SEIU to recover attorney's fees associated with its defense.

The anti-SLAPP motion stems from an aggressive years-long campaign by the CNA to intervene in efforts by nurses and other hospital workers to join SEIU and to "raid" SEIU members in hospitals in California and other states.

"Nurse unions should work together to win a fair union election process for the 85% of registered nurses in America who don't have a union--not fight over the 15% who already do," said SEIU Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry. "We continue to hope that we can reach a national understanding with the CNA that will include a no-raid/no-interference agreement."

SEIU's anti-Strategic Lawsuit to Prevent Public Participation (SLAPP) motion was filed in April against the CNA under California's Code of Civil Procedure 425.16, a statute intended to prevent organizations from using a "SLAPP" suit to suppress free speech from critics or opponents.

According to the judge, "the key point here is that the CNA filed an action to restrain a person who was not even in the State of California and an organization which, because it was not a natural person, could not be the proper subject of the restraining order sought here.

"Beyond that, we have a situation where the CNA obtained a TRO by the use of incorrect statements and 'half-truths' - for example, that Mr. Stern had 'caused physical and emotional injury to plaintiffs employee in this county.'"

"Making this even worse is the likelihood that the CNA sought the TRO primarily so that it could bandy the TRO to the press," the judge added. "We note that the CNA gave no notice in advance that it was seeking the TRO, and it informed the national media that the TRO had been issued before making any effort to serve it."

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