Copeland v. Good Samaritan Hosp. (Summary)

RETALIATORY DISCHARGE/WHISTLEBLOWING

Copeland v. Good Samaritan Hosp., No. H039933 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 22, 2014)

The Sixth District Court of Appeal for California affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a hospital and nurse against a former employee’s wrongful termination lawsuit and other claims. The former employee, also a registered nurse, alleged that the hospital terminated her employment and retaliated against her after she complained about patient abuse and on the basis of her request for leave to attend outpatient rehabilitation which had been mandated by the California Board of Registered Nurses following two DUIs the nurse had received in 2006.

According to hospital records, the nurse was terminated after she gave a patient his breakfast tray while he was sitting on the toilet, which was allegedly motivated by her desire to go on break. On the same day, she allegedly berated another employee and told management to “back off” because she had lawyers. After weighing the conflicting stories from each side, the trial court concluded that the plaintiff failed to show that the hospital’s stated reasons for her termination were pretextual. It noted that she had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with regard to her request for a leave and that some of her claims were barred by the statute of limitations. In addition, it denied her attempt to sue one of her colleagues, explaining that the anti-discrimination laws only permit lawsuits against employers, not other non-employer individuals working for the employer.

The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s judgment in full, concluding that the nurse could not sue for wrongful termination because she never engaged in a protected “whistleblowing” activity – in fact, she only reported patient care issues to local authorities after she had been terminated which was not sufficient to support a charge of retaliation for engaging in protected activity.