O’Connor v. Jordan Hosp. (Summary)

EMTALA

O’Connor v. Jordan Hosp., No. 10-11416-MBB (D. Mass. June 17, 2013)

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that a jury should decide whether a hospital terminated a nurse in retaliation for reporting an EMTALA violation or, alternatively, because of concerns about her performance.  Accordingly, the court denied the hospital’s motion for summary judgment.

The nurse claimed that the hospital terminated her in retaliation for reporting EMTALA violations in her capacity as variance manager for the hospital.  The court found that the nurse “reported” an EMTALA violation to her supervisors by bringing a complaint from another hospital to her supervisors’ attention and by preparing a letter to be sent to CMS.  Further, the court noted that the nurse’s subsequent termination was an adverse employment action.  The court ruled that a jury should determine whether her termination was in retaliation for her “reporting” the EMTALA violation or, as the hospital claimed, was based on ongoing concerns with her performance.  Thus, the hospital’s motion for summary judgment was denied on the EMTALA claim.

The court used similar reasoning in deciding that a jury should decide if the hospital retaliated against the nurse in violation of the Massachusetts Healthcare Provider Whistleblower Statute.