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Losing wages due to supposed reaction to job stress.

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neesie2

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?georgia

I am an RN in an Intensive Care Unit in a large hospital. I was hired under a 2 year contract for a bonus of $10,000. Our unit is often less than adequately staffed and we are often given difficult assignments. On the night in question, I was given an extremely difficult assignment and asked that it be changed without response. I took the assignment and did my best. A nurse who had been pulled from another unit that I did not know was assigned to help me. She and the charge nurse complained that I did not seem to respond to them appropriately and did not accept their help with the assignment. I subsequently worked two more 12 hour shifts that week and was called in the next week for a meeting about the above incident. I was told that I appeared to be overreacting to stress and was to receive a psychiatric consultation before I could return to work. I have missed three 12 hour shifts, I have no sick or paid time off and although they assured me that I would receive short term disability insurance for the time lost, I found out that this does not begin for seven days after the incident and that it must be approved. I did not feel that I displayed any behavior that would warrent having to have a psychiatric evaluation. I was sent to the hospital physician who was to refer me to a psychiatrist-he stated at the exam that he didn't understand what he was supposed to do and needed to call my supervisor and find out. He also stated that he did not believe anything was wrong with me. I went to the hospital and stated to them that I would not receive the disability insurance if I had no diagnosis of stress related psychiatric illness and since I have no other means of support for my children I would have to seek employment elsewhere. I felt that this was in violation of the above mentioned contract since the hospital is not allowing me to work. They agreed to terminate the contract and allow me to leave their employment and I shall seek that in writing on Monday. In the meantime, I feel as if I have been treated unfairly and I have lost 36 hours of wages and endured two meetings in which I was unable to defend myself and not allowed any options except to NOT work. My children are scared because they know I have not been working-we have a mortgage and a tight budget. It will take approximately a week to get into another position in another hospital and there is more lost wages due to this one incident. And I felt as if I had no other option but to leave that institution. Would I have a case against the hospital for my lost work time and emotional duress? My history as nurse is good-I have been in the field of ICU for 28 years. I worked in the previous hospital 12 years and worked in this hospital 9 years prior to that. My work record is untarnished-and that night my patients were taken care of properly despite the stress I was under. Do you think I have a case or would it be worth it?
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Would I have a case against the hospital for my lost work time and emotional duress? No. (1) There is nothing unlawful about them requesting you undergo a medical or psychiatric examination if they have concerns about your ability to do your job, and (2) requiring you to do so doesn't come anywhere near emotional duress.

If you think there is a contract violation, then seek the advice of an attorney (who will need to read the contract.) It's hard to imagine though that the hospital would enter into an employment contract that gives them no rights to act if they feel the employee is behaving inappropriately or engaging in some sort of misconduct, especially when patient care is involved.
 

Renee3

Junior Member
Reply to Latinoboy

Latinoboy - thank you for sharing YOUR opinions. However, I think what would be most helpful to the poster are opinions that are backed up by education and experience.

What the regular posters on this forum like Patty and CBG (or CBG, I can never remember the initials) have are years of experience in seeing this kind of situation played out in the courtroom and state and federal laws and regulations. If they say that their opinion is that this poster doesn't have a case, I tend to believe them.

Of course, the poster can check with her state's enforcer of Wage and Hour Law, usually labeled something like State Department of Labor, via web search or phone call, if she doesn't want to contact an attorney, just to be sure.
 

LATINOBOY

Member
Renee3 said:
Latinoboy - thank you for sharing YOUR opinions. However, I think what would be most helpful to the poster are opinions that are backed up by education and experience.

What the regular posters on this forum like Patty and CBG (or CBG, I can never remember the initials) have are years of experience in seeing this kind of situation played out in the courtroom and state and federal laws and regulations. If they say that their opinion is that this poster doesn't have a case, I tend to believe them.

Of course, the poster can check with her state's enforcer of Wage and Hour Law, usually labeled something like State Department of Labor, via web search or phone call, if she doesn't want to contact an attorney, just to be sure.
And your advice is...

The poster asked if she/he should get paid for the time she/he was out, Beth did not answer that question, and cbg hasn't given his opinion yet, so what's your problem. I am not giving this person a legal advice, just my opinion. I don't know who you are, but please don't tell me when to post and what to post. In other words mind your own business.

Besides, everybody here will consult with an attorney at some point, including myself, becasue only an employment lawyer can answer our questions, not you, not me, not beth, not cbg, not Belize, etc. etc.

So get your facts straight before you jump on anybody, OK?
 

Beth3

Senior Member
I think this person has the right to get paid for the time she was out of work. Not under any existing wage and hour laws. As a non-exempt employee, she is only required to be paid for the hours she actually works.

if the hospital ordered this person to be evaluated by a psychiatric, he/she needs to get paid. See my answer above.

Not only that, but I believe emotional duress is probable here, because bills need to get paid, and if there is no income, I don't think this person would feel very good emotionally. Being asked to undergo a psychiatric evaulation does not amount to emotional duress. Not even close.

Again, it depends what the contract says. Agreed, but since she wasn't paid, it's fair to assume the contract does not require the employer to do so.
 

Katy W.

Member
Neesie, what 36 hours are you saying you didn't get paid for?

Latinoboy, your response troubled me too. You wrote:

I think this person has the right to get paid for the time she was out of work. I don't know what the contract says, but if the hospital ordered this person to be evaluated by a psychiatric, he/she needs to get paid. Not only that, but I believe emotional duress is probable here, because bills need to get paid, and if there is no income, I don't think this person would feel very good emotionally.I]


This is a forum for advice on labor and employment LAW. Your advice sounds as though you are giving her a recommendation based on the law, which you are not. You are telling her what you think would be FAIR. It is dangerous to respond to a post with your opinions unless you state they are opinions. There is no statute that I now of that makes it unlawful to place an employee in a situation that makes them not "feel very good emotionally."

Besides, everybody here will consult with an attorney at some point, including myself, becasue only an employment lawyer can answer our questions, not you, not me, not beth, not cbg, not Belize, etc. etc
This is absolutley NOT true. Many people can't afford a consultation and come here looking for help. Many posters are under the impression that the people who resond to the posts are actually lawyers.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
LATINOBOY said:
Again, did you read my disclaimer on the bottom? Did I say I was a lawyer?, Please, are you dumb?.

Do you know what the contract says?, Are you a lawyer? NO.

I say that the poster should get paid, not that MUST get paid, it's up to the poster to pursue this matter.

Does Beth knows what the contract says? NO

It's not dangerous to answer to these posts as long as you state that you are not giving a legal advice. If not, see all the posts on this forum, are they based on the law really? NO.

Real legal advice is not offered on this fourm, just OPINIONS, got it? OPINIONS.
I suggest you very carefully consider removing this post. I would also suggest you take a minute to reevaluate your other posts on this forum and the ability to KEEP posting them.
And I'll say no more.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
BelizeBreeze said:
I suggest you very carefully consider removing this post. I would also suggest you take a minute to reevaluate your other posts on this forum and the ability to KEEP posting them.
And I'll say no more.
I agree with BB.
 

LATINOBOY

Member
BelizeBreeze said:
I suggest you very carefully consider removing this post. I would also suggest you take a minute to reevaluate your other posts on this forum and the ability to KEEP posting them.
And I'll say no more.
Listen Belize, you are the one insulting everybody on this board, I have printed all of your offensive posting, and the ones people have responded to you. You don't intimidate me at all.

If the moderators want to cancel my membership, it's all right with me. But don't forget that my postings are just comments and I never stated the law when I wrote them. If you people like to run me off this board, go ahead.

Don't forget that I try to answer some postings to the best of my knowledge, I've dealing with employment issues of my own for the last 10 years, I'm not an expert, and a lot of you are not experts either.
 

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