May 6, 2025 — PEF’s Stop Workplace Violence campaign launched last year after three stabbings at Buffalo Psychiatric Center (PC) in April. Since then, additional attacks have made headlines at South Beach PC on Staten Island in October 2024 and now a sexual assault at Pilgrim PC in Suffolk County.
The PEF nurse was assaulted at Pilgrim on March 13 by a patient with prior offenses. PEF Vice President Darlene Williams said that there were several missteps during and after the assault that could have prevented the incident.
“No one informed the member about the patient’s history or his previous attacks,” Williams said. “The patient was waiting for a moment to strike and found the one person who was unaware to make his move.”
Following the assault, Williams said that the patient was removed from the area and the member’s supervisor was helpful in getting the member to their local police precinct, but still the member did not feel protected.
“When she got to the precinct, her supervisor did inform her that they believed she had a right to press charges,” said Williams. “But she wasn’t given any privacy to tell her full story. She was minimizing her experience.”
Williams said that even after speaking to a counselor, the member still did not share a complete account.
The incident happened on March 13. PEF area leaders, like Region 12 Coordinator Corrine Testa, didn’t learn about it until a week later on March 21. It was only then that the member gave a full account of the incident.
“We wanted to make sure that she felt protected, but we also didn’t want her to share anything she didn’t want to share,” said Williams. “Eventually she spoke with us, and we went through the steps to really get her the help she needed.”
That help included another visit to the precinct. Williams said that it was PEF President Wayne Spence who was able to call the precinct and arrange for a detective to speak with the member privately and finally press charges.
“The patient was led out of the hospital in handcuffs, and that is really thanks to President Spence,” said Williams. “It would have taken a lot longer for us to move on this issue without his help.”
The union was also able to help secure a court order of protection for the member.
The attack prompted the 120 members of the PEF Executive Board to vote unanimously in late March to consider a vote of no-confidence against OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan the next time they meet in June.
“PEF members at OMH understand they work in a dangerous setting, but this is not part of the job,” said President Spence following the vote. “They care for New Yorkers who really need the services they provide, and it’s time for the State to do everything in their power to protect its workforce.”
Williams said she can see some change on the horizon.
“We met with leadership at Pilgrim, the Director of Facility Management, and with Commissioner Sullivan,” said Williams. “We spoke about all the missteps and discussed next steps, but when the Commissioner said she was sorry, that resonated with me. It felt like she was now really willing to listen to us.”
Since the incident, OMH Central Staff and Leadership have been meeting with PEF to finalize changes to the facility and hopefully bring these incidents to an end. Health and Safety committees are also developing stronger bases of support at the facility.
Ultimately, PEF is cautiously optimistic about OMH working together on safety. Vice President Williams is looking forward to working with leaders and management on the ground, educating and strengthening change at the facilities and finally getting on the same page about workplace violence.
Williams said that it’s important to make sure that management and staff are working from the same place of understanding.
“We may not eradicate workplace violence,” said Williams. “But we will damn sure know what to do when we have support from both sides of the aisle.”