California Nursing Home Charge Nurses Win Right to Unionize in NLRB Supervisory Status Decision

The National Labor Relations Board Regional Director for Region 32 determined that approximately 70 Licensed Nurses working as Charge Nurses at Alameda Healthcare & Wellness Center are not statutory supervisors under Section 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act and are therefore eligible to vote in a union representation election. The February 9, 2026 decision rejected the employer's arguments that the Charge Nurses—who include Registered Nurses and Licensed Vocational Nurses working as Medicine Cart Nurses, Treatment Nurses, and Desk/Resource Nurses—exercise supervisory authority over Certified Nursing Assistants.

Regional Director Christy J. Kwon applied the framework established in the Supreme Court's NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care (2001) decision and the Board's landmark Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. (2006) precedent, which clarified the meaning of key terms including "assign," "responsibly direct," and "independent judgment." Under this three-part test, an individual is a supervisor only if they: (1) possess authority to engage in at least one of 12 listed supervisory functions; (2) exercise that authority using independent judgment that is not routine or clerical in nature; and (3) hold that authority in the interest of the employer.

The decision found that monthly schedules and daily assignments are created by Scheduler Lisseth Cruz and Sub-Acute Coordinator Danielle Archuleta, not by Charge Nurses. While Charge Nurses can modify Certified Nursing Assistant room assignments in three circumstances—equalizing patient distribution to meet state-mandated ratios, honoring patient or family requests for specific CNAs, and addressing patient temperament issues—these changes require no independent judgment. State regulations mandate certain ratios, patient requests must be honored without discretion, and temperament-based reassignments are routine responses to obvious mismatches.

On disciplinary authority, the decision noted only a handful of examples of Charge Nurse involvement in CNA discipline over more than a year, with evidence showing management conducting independent investigations or reviewing Charge Nurse-drafted corrective actions before they were issued. The facility provided no documentary evidence of a progressive discipline system despite testimony that one exists. Most examples involved Charge Nurses writing statements about CNA performance that were submitted to management, who then issued the discipline—characterized as "nothing more than a reporting function" insufficient to establish supervisory authority.

Regarding responsible direction, the record showed only one example of a Charge Nurse being disciplined for a CNA's actions, and in that instance the Charge Nurse was primarily disciplined for not knowing a patient's whereabouts (their own failure) rather than specifically for the CNA's failure to report information. Testimony about Charge Nurse accountability was characterized as "broad and generalized" without concrete examples, with accountability primarily stemming from state licensing requirements rather than employer policies.

The 75-room skilled nursing facility in Alameda, California has been the subject of a union organizing campaign since 2021 led by Service Employees International Union, Local 2015. The decision orders a "self-determination Sonotone election" on February 19, 2026, with professional employees (RNs) voting separately on whether to be included with nonprofessional employees (LVNs) in a combined bargaining unit.

The decision emphasizes several key legal principles: the burden of proving supervisory status rests on the party asserting it; supervisory status must be proven by a preponderance of credible evidence; conflicting or inconclusive evidence defeats a finding of supervisory status; and any lack of record evidence is construed against the party asserting supervisory status. The Regional Director noted that the Board "cautions against construing supervisory status too broadly because the employee who is deemed a supervisor is denied rights which the Act is intended to protect."

Key Points

• Case Context: 70 Charge Nurses (RNs and LVNs) at Alameda Healthcare & Wellness Center, a 75-room skilled nursing facility in Alameda, California
• Legal Standard: Three-part test requires authority over one of 12 supervisory functions, exercise using independent judgment, and holding authority in employer's interest
• Assignment Finding: Schedules created by designated schedulers, not Charge Nurses; room assignment changes dictated by state regulations, mandatory patient requests, or routine temperament mismatches
• Discipline Finding: Only a handful of examples over more than a year; most involved reporting function rather than actual discipline; management conducted independent investigations
• Direction Finding: Only one example of Charge Nurse being disciplined for CNA actions; accountability primarily from state licensing requirements, not employer policies
• Burden of Proof: Employer failed to provide sufficient detailed evidence; conflicting testimony undermines supervisory claims
• Election Ordered: February 19, 2026 self-determination Sonotone election with separate professional and nonprofessional voting groups
• Organizing Campaign: SEIU Local 2015 petition filed December 12, 2025; organizing efforts began in 2021

Primary Source Author: Christy J. Kwon, Regional Director, NLRB Region 32

Primary Source: Decision and Direction of Election, Case 32-RC-377020

Primary Source Link: https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458418461b

Supplemental Links

• National Labor Relations Act, Section 2(11) - NLRB Official Text
• Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., 348 NLRB No. 37 (2006) - Leading Supervisory Status Precedent
• NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care, 532 U.S. 706 (2001) - Supreme Court Decision
• Service Employees International Union, Local 2015
• Bay Area Current: Why Alameda Healthcare Is Unionizing (December 2025)
• Congressional Research Service: The Definition of "Supervisor" Under the NLRA