MNA has not informed any of it's nurses in any of our bargaining units that MNA is currently being sued. The lawsuit comes from a Field Director who was terminated by MNA in June of 2026. You can go to Minnesota's court record search right now, click on business, type in Minnesota Nurses Association, and the top result is the case in question. The 14 page doc ment at the bottom contains all of the information about the case.

You can read the documents for yourself but if you'd like a brief overview, this lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff, along with others, repeatedly reported racist, sexist, and anti-LGBTQ behavior by MNA's HR Manager, Brenda Woodall to MNA's executive director, Elaina Hane. This behavior allegedly included but was not limited to making disparaging comments about several different black employees work ethic, stating "the blacks are taking over MNA", referring to a transgender coworker as "it" and telling other coworkers the employees "real name", and harassing someone based on sexual orientation. The document goes on to allege that Ms. Hane also indulged in discriminatory behavior both individually and in conjunction with Ms. Woodall including commenting on coworkers' physical appearance, stating "you can't make a ho into a housewife". Ms. Hane is also accused of spreading a rumor that two employees that had gone swimming at the same time in a hotel pool were in a relationship with no evidence, and attempting to "trick" the female employee into admitting it. Ms. Hane allegedly continued to engage in inappropriate behavior including being dismissive of plaintiff's mental health concerns and complaining to other staff members when the plaintiff used intermittent medical leave for mental health reasons. Following a meeting co-led by Plaintiff and Ms. Hane in January 2026, where other MNA staff raised concerns about Ms. Woodall's behavior, the plaintiff privately discussed the need to end Ms. Woodall's employment with MNA. Ms. Hane agreed and then did not take any action. Approximately one month later, the plaintiff was placed on indefinite administrative leave by Ms. Woodall herself with no stated reason. Plaintiff was on approved medical leave on May 7th when Ms. Hane demanded he attend a 5-hour in person interview for a workplace misconduct investigation, for which plaintiff received no information regarding allegations of misconduct. Plaintiff attempted to offer alternatives or offered to do interview upon return from medical leave. This medical leave was scheduled to end June 9th. Instead of waiting the 11 days until plaintiff returned from medical leave, MNA closed it's investigation on May 29th, 2026. MNA then terminated the plaintiff's employment on June 30th. 

Why does this matter? Both of these women are STILL employed by MNA. Your union dues contribute in part not only to their salaries but to the financial payout that will almost certainly be the end result of this lawsuit. 

I would like to acknowledge that this is in no way meant to be anti-union rhetoric. I love our union and the protections it provides but we need to hold the organization accountable at the highest levels. If we don't want to put up with this kind of behavior from our employer, we shouldn't be putting up with it from our union. 

This petition demands that the MNA board take immediate action to terminate both Brenda Woodall and Elaina Hale from their current positions due to the aforementioned allegations. If you also support this goal, I highly suggest signing the petition and emailing the board of directors at [email protected]