Bennett v. Kaiser Permanente (Summary)

ADA/ADEA

Bennett v. Kaiser Permanente, No. 10-CV-2505 AW (D. Md. Mar. 20, 2013)

In this employment discrimination case, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted a managed care organization’s (“MCO”) motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by a nurse who had been forced to resign.  After becoming confused and injecting a patient with insulin rather than giving the patient the TB test he or she was supposed to have received, the MCO requested the nurse see a physician, where he was diagnosed with multiple ailments, including PTSD, fibromas of the feet, and sleep apnea. The nurse was moved to a more sedentary position in a nurse call center to accommodate the pain in his feet.  However, while working in the call center, the nurse failed to recognize a patient’s possible stroke symptoms and scheduled her for a later appointment than her medical condition necessitated.  Following that occurrence, the MCO gave the nurse the option to resign or be fired. After resigning, the nurse sued, claiming that the forced resignation was based upon unlawful age and disability discrimination. 

The court granted summary judgment on the age discrimination claim because his age did not have a “determinative influence on the outcome,” finding that the MCO had not treated the nurse any differently from similarly situated employees.  The younger nurses that the plaintiff nurse alleged were treated less harshly had committed only one error, while he had committed two. In addition, the court noted that the MCO had disciplined another nurse, older than the plaintiff nurse, less harshly than he had been disciplined.

The district court also granted summary judgment on the nurse’s disability discrimination claim, stating that no reasonable jury could conclude that the organization’s nondiscriminatory reasons for termination were pretextual.  The nurse made two separate mistakes after being disciplined and reassigned.  The court determined that these mistakes were clearly the reasons for termination, not the nurse’s disability.