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possible wrongful termination/ADA issue

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frayed_knot

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan

I am an R.N. who was recently terminated for errors in charting medications. I have never had any performance issues in the 17 months that I worked at this hospital and receive a favorable performance report approximately 3 mos ago. I was a full time employee.

Last week, my manager confronted me about the medication charting errors. I explained to her that I am currently being treated for psychiatric illness, have been for several years, and I believed that recent exacerbation in the illness was the most likely explanation for the discrepancies. I offered to work in a limited capacity so that I can continue my treatment and return to regular duties once my health improved. I explained that my physician suggested taking time off of work two months ago, but that I felt staying at home might make me feel unproductive and worsen the depression. I also expressed concerns about the stigma attached to health care workers with mental illness.

Keep in mind that up until this time, no one had suggested that my work performance was in any way substandard. I had told my manager in the preceeding weeks that the 12-hour shifts she recently began assigning to me were very stressful and exhausting and I doubted that I would be able to do my best work under those circumstance. Nevertheless, she continued to assign many 12-hour shifts. Even my clinical coordinator/charge nurse collaborated with me when I explained to the manager the difficulties I was experiencing working the longer shifts.

On Monday morning, my manager called to say that I was being terminated since my charting errors may potentially compromise patient safety.

I spoke with my physician regarding the situation, and he said that the medications he prescribed over the past two months to treat the increasing depression and anxiety I was experiencing are notorious for causing short-term memory loss. He also said that the most appropriate action for the hospital to take would have been to place me on medical leave until I returned to a state of health conducive to safe patient care. My physician suggested filing a grievance or consulting an attorney. At this point, I have contacted a few law firms but have not yet met with any representatives. I would prefer to wait for legal advice before going ahead with any action in case I say or do something inappropriate that might lessen the possibility that I can return to my job or any nursing job for that matter.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you may be able to offer and my apologies for the lengthy post.
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Your physician is not an attorney. Just because one option might have been to put you on medical leave does not mean that it was illegal to fire you for errors in charting medications. Even under the ADA, you are still required to perform the essential functions of your job TO STANDARD: they are not required to allow you to make errors. You yourself told the manager that you were not interested in taking a leave.

Your telling them that you are being treated for psychiatric disorders is NOT the equivalent of asking for an accomodation. It can be considered discriminatory for them to assume that you need one before it is requested.

Did you make it clear to them that in asking for the shorter shifts (and btw, the ADA does not require them to give you the accomodation you want or even the one the doctor recommends) you were requesting accomodation under the ADA? Or did you just say, "I'm having problems with the longer shifts; please schedule me for shorter ones?" (That's an honest to goodness question, not an accusation or a rebuttal.)
 

frayed_knot

Junior Member
Thank you for your reply.

I realize that my physician is not an attorney. Too bad! I could have killed two birds with one stone. :)

On Friday when the manager informed me of the errors, she requested an explanation. I then told her (actually reminded her since I had mentioned it to her before) of my illness and that I believed that a recent increase in symptoms and change of medication was the problem. Not being an expert in employment law, or any other type of law for that matter, I did not use the words "reasonable accomodations."

I did say something to this effect: "I am willing to do whatever I need to do to correct the performance problem, including increasing the intensity of therapy and physician visits, working in some sort of limited capacity or not at all until I am fit for work again... Whatever I need to do to get well and continue practice nursing here. My doctor previously recommended time off but my sense of loyalty to fellow coworkers, strong work ethic, and lack of negative feedback from co-workers and/or supervisors regarding performance kept me from doing so. I now realize that a leave of absence might have been in my best interest."

Okay, I wasn't that articulate, being that I was caught completely off guard, but that was the gist of it.

On the following Monday morning before my mgrs meeting with HR regarding my case, I called and told her I voluntarily entered the state's program for health professionals with mental illness since she had brought the performance issues to my attention. I would have done it long ago, but as I said before, even though I was feeling increasingly anxious, depressed, and overwhelmed, no one made me aware of any problems whatsoever. She said she would mention it to the HR rep when she met with her.

An hour or two later, the manager called and recommended I see the company's Employee Assistance Program for couseling to deal with my anxiety/depression.

Later that afternoon, she called and said it was determined in the HR meeting that it was in the hospital's best interest to terminate my employment immediately.

Also, I was under the impression that an employer may have a duty to provide accomodations if s/he has knowledge of an employee's disability, whether or not the employee specifically requests it.

Certainly not trying to be a know-it-all here. Just sifting through reams of information and trying to stay awake reading case law while heavily medicated is fairly challenging.

Thanks again.
 

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