EDISON, NJ - The former Director of Nursing at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park has filed a lawsuit against the home's management, claiming his concerns were routinely ignored, and he was retaliated against for whistleblowing. Michael Yannotto filed his lawsuit on Monday in Mercer County Superior Court.
The Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
According to the lawsuit, Yannotto began working for the Department of Veterans Affairs in October 2023, and was promoted to Director of Nursing for the Menlo Park home in August 2024. He oversaw all nursing staff, was responsible for all clinical scheduling and recruitment, and was the Designated Abuse Officer for the Home.
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Yannotto was also responsible for assuring the home was following a 2024 consent order from the state, due to a federal lawsuit concerning “abysmal conditions” at the veteran's homes. The consent order placed 150 specific obligations on the operation of the home and installed a third party monitor to oversee compliance, according to the lawsuit.
From 2024 to 2025, Yannotto claims to have raised multiple concerns about violations of the consent order. He says his concerns were largely ignored by the CEO Lisa Kranis and the DCEO Mary Karas, and management perceived him as a “complainer."
According to the lawsuit, Yannotto reported the following issues to management:
The lawsuit alleges that Yannotto faced scrutiny and retaliation for the following:
On August 11, 2025, Kranis and Karas, along with HR Manager Tiana Morgan, instructed Yannotto to execute a PIP against employee Shirley Antoine, president of the CWA local. He was told that Kranis was “upset” about Antoine, and he was forced to sign the paperwork. Yannotto objected to the PIP, saying that Antoine “had never been an issue.” On September 2nd, Morgan e-mailed him and instructed that Antoine “had to fail” the WTP, and was forced to sign a document failing Antoine and extending her WTP.
Yannotto claims Karas admitted to him that there was no reason for doing so. He later e-mailed EEO Officer Jim Fallon objecting to the false extension of Antoine’s WTP and management’s failure to hire nurses while the home was understaffed.
On August 27, 2025, Yannotto was told by management that his job duties were being changed. He would have to spend substantial time on the floor, which he claims was retaliation for his whistleblowing about defective medication dispensing machines. He had objected to its continued use “because he perceived it as endangering the residents,” according to the lawsuit.
That same day, nurses were reassigned without his knowledge or consent. On September 2, Morgan had pulled the only two floor nursing supervisors off their rounds to conduct LPN interviews, leaving resident units unsupervised during an active inspection. Kranis then blamed Yannotto for not stopping the interview. On September 4, Yannotto's responsibility for interviewing prospective nurses was stripped from him and re-assigned to his subordinates.
Morgan, along with DMAVA Chief of HR Kia Inman, accused Yannotto of violating the anti-nepotism policy. His son had been hired several months prior. According to the lawsuit, Yannotto had made “a proper and timely disclosure” to the HR office in July 2025.
In September 2025, Yannotto was denied a 3.5% raise that all other nursing staff received. That same month, he was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, leaving him unable to work. He initially went on sick leave but quickly exhausted his saved time, and asked for FMLA. The FMLA was approved on October 10, but was not mailed to him until October 31.
Yannotto resigned from his position on October 14, 2025, saying it was “so intolerable to continue working there.” He is seeking economic damages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, costs of suit and reasonable attorney fees, according to the lawsuit.