LeCroy v. Interim Health Care Staffing of No. Louisiana

AGENCY

LeCroy v. Interim Health Care Staffing of No. Louisiana, Inc., No. 43,080-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. Apr. 2, 2008)

The Court of Appeal of Louisiana reversed a grant of partial summary judgment in favor of a patient allegedly injured by an agency nurse working under a hospital supervisor, holding that there were factual questions regarding whether the agency nurse was a dual employee of the staffing company and the hospital. The court also found that summary judgment in favor of the patient on the grounds that the issue had been adjudicated previously in a judgment approving the patient’s settlement with the hospital was improper.

The court noted that, regarding the question whether an agency nurse is a hospital employee, "a legal presumption exists that hospitals retain and exercise the right to control nurses provided to the hospital by an agency."

In making its decision, the court relied upon Medical Review Panel Proceedings for Claim of Tinoco v. Meadowcrest Hosp., No. 03-0272 (La. App. Sept. 17, 2003), which held that, even though a nurse was a direct employee of a staffing agency, because the hospital’s supervisory/managerial employees controlled the daily work responsibilities of the agency nurses, both the staffing agency and the hospital were responsible for the nurse’s negligence.