3 Nurses Disciplined After Attempted Hospital Shooting; Union Calls It Retaliation

Mount Sinai Hospital is facing backlash from nurses and their union after three nurses were disciplined for speaking out about safety concerns following an attempted shooting in the emergency department last month. 

The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) says the hospital’s actions amount to unlawful retaliation at a critical moment in ongoing contract negotiations.

Discipline After Near-Tragedy in the ED

According to NYSNA, Mount Sinai issued final written warnings to two nurses and suspended a third nurse the day after Thanksgiving. The union says the nurses were targeted for discussing NYSNA’s safety proposals with colleagues and for speaking to the media about conditions in the emergency department.

The discipline came in the wake of a November 13 incident in which a 20-year-old man allegedly entered the Upper East Side ER, threatened to shoot, and was later fatally shot by police outside the hospital after reportedly pointing a gun at officers. 

The same staff he had threatened then treated him when he was brought back to the emergency department, where he died of his injuries.

Speaking Out About Safety

While none of the staff who were involved in the incident or treatment of the patient were hurt, three of the nurses did use the incident as an example of why the union's safety proposals, such as weapon detection stations at facility entrances, are important. 

The union is in the midst of contract negotiations with the hospital, so the nurses used the timely incident as an example of how safety regulations could help. 

A few of the nurses also spoke to the media. After the nurses talked about the incident and their safety concerns, along with union proposals, the hospital responded by writing up two of the nurses and suspending another one from work, according to The City. 

The hospital's official stance is that the employees broke hospital policy by discussing union matters with staff members, as union activities while on the job are prohibited. 

The nurses maintain that they were not at work at the time of the discussions. 

Union Calls Actions 'Retaliation' and 'Union Busting'

The NYSNA contends the hospital’s response is illegal retaliation, particularly as the union is actively negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 4,300 nurses, with a strike deadline set for December 31. 

Union leaders are demanding that Mount Sinai remove the disciplinary actions from the nurses’ records and plan to file formal complaints with federal labor authorities.

One of the disciplined nurses, emergency department nurse and bargaining committee member Gueldye Beaubrun, says she was off the clock when she canvassed coworkers about union safety proposals and other bargaining issues. 

She and fellow nurse Sophie Damas both received what they describe as “final written warnings,” while a third nurse, not publicly identified, was suspended. Both nurses say the hospital is trying to “silence” them and intimidate staff as strike preparations escalate.

Safety, Security, and Hospital Policy Collide

Beaubrun and her colleagues have been pushing for stronger protections, including weapons-detection technology at every hospital entrance. The entrance used during the incident already had a metal detector, which staff believe may have prevented an even more serious tragedy and underscores their demands. 

Nurses describe the response to the incident as “chaotic,” with uncertainty for several minutes about whether an armed shooter was inside the building.

A Mount Sinai spokesperson pointed staff to a letter from CEO Brendan Carr, sent on November 18, in which he emphasised campus safety as fundamental to the hospital’s culture and said the health system is expanding visitor management and weapons detection programs. 

Carr said the hospital expects to complete implementation of “cutting-edge” weapons-detection technology at its major campuses in 2026 and pledged to continue refining security systems and procedures.

Growing Tensions Ahead of Strike Deadline

The dispute over discipline is unfolding against a backdrop of heightened concern about workplace violence in health care and rising labor militancy among nurses. 

Nationally, health care workers experience the highest number of non-fatal workplace violence incidents among private-sector employees, and Mount Sinai nurses participated in a three-day strike in 2023 over staffing ratios and pay.

NYSNA says the latest incident has only strengthened nurses’ resolve. Some nurses report feeling betrayed by management, while others say they are more motivated to strike if necessary. 

The union is organizing actions outside Mount Sinai to protest what it calls “unfair” discipline and to highlight ongoing safety concerns—warning that they have raised alarms about a potential incident like this “for years,” and that this was a “very close call.”

Source: NYSNA/Facebook

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