Seyfarth Synopsis: In this case a home-care nurse complained about the quality of care her patient received from the patient's family members. Subsequent review and inspections by the company found some "serious problems" with the employee's care-giving — and ultimately led to her termination. The Sixth Circuit Court agreed with the employer's analysis. Blair v. Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc., No. 17-5025 (6th Cir. Oct. 6, 2017).
The plaintiff, Teresa Blair, was a home-care nurse that provided medical care for a patient with cerebral palsy and mental retardation. Over the course of several years the plaintiff, as directed by her employer, reported numerous incidences of neglect of the home-care patient at the hands of the patient's family. Blair complained that the patient's mother was not mentally capable of caring for him.
Blair, though, exhibited her own employment issues on the job. According to the Court, Blair had shown up at a patient's house when not scheduled to work; made errors on medical charts; failed to take a patient's vital signs for the doctor; falsely reported that the doctor had ordered a patient quarantined and that Blair alone should care for the patient while he had the flu; and attempted to change her schedule without her supervisor's permission.
Subsequently, Blair reported upon arriving at her home-care position, finding her patient in distress. After alerting authorities, Blair was told to call an ambulance. After arriving at the hospital, a doctor evaluated the patient and noted "normal vital signs and no clinical signs of illness or distress." Blair's supervisor told her to turn her patient's care over to the hospital staff. Blair however continued to shadow hospital staff until that evening. The patient was released from the hospital the next day.
About a week later, the employer gave Blair a written warning indicating that she had failed to follow her supervisor's instructions to let the hospital staff take over, among other things.
Then, after Blair's patient's release from the hospital, one of Blair's supervisors and a registered nurse, visited the patient's home and noted some "serious problems" with Blair's care-giving. For instance, Blair had not placed a pulse-oximeter probe on the patient's finger, which was a problem because "the doctor (and Blair's supervisor) had ordered continuous use of the probe to measure [the patient's] blood-oxygen saturation level." Blair had also failed to place an ambu-bag at the patient's bedside. "This device was supposed to be within arm's reach so that, in an emergency, Blair could use it to help [the patient] breathe. The device was found in a closet on an upper shelf and the closet door was blocked by a large piece of equipment. "A month before, Blair had been reprimanded for the same mistake." Blair was fired the next day.
Blair then sued the employer in Kentucky state court, asserting wrongful-discharge claims. The employer then removed the case to federal court under diversity jurisdiction. Blair amended her claims to assert that the healthcare employer had discharged her in violation of Kentucky's Patient Safety Act. The district court granted summary judgment to the employer on all claims.
In discussion of the law in this case, the Court explained that the Kentucky Patient Safety Act requires that any "employee of a health care facility . . . who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the quality of care of a patient, patient safety, or the health care facility's or service's safety is in jeopardy" to "make an oral or written report of the problem to the health care facility[.]" Citing Ky. Rev. Stat. § 216B.165(1). In addition, the Act also prohibits any "health care facility or service" from retaliating "against any agent or employee who in good faith reports[.]" Citing Ky. Rev. Stat. § 216B.165(3). To prevail on her claim under the Act, Blair needed to show (i) that she engaged in a protected activity under the Act, (ii) that the employer knew about her protected activity, and (iii) that the employer took an adverse employment action against her because of it.
Blair contended that a jury could find causation because in her view the employer falsely accused her of interfering with the Kentucky Protective Services investigation of the December 2013 incident that sent her patient to the hospital. The Court, though, concluded that Blair failed to present a genuine issue as to causation. "The 18 days between her complaint and termination are not enough to allow a reasonable jury to find that one caused the other."
For employers, and especially healthcare employers, this case illuminates the need for constant vigilance in the company's oversight of its staff, and the preparation of documentation relating to employee supervision and discipline.
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