Chenevert v. Christus Continuing Care — Oct. 2015 (Summary)

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

Chenevert v. Christus Continuing Care
No. 12-3096 (W.D. La. Oct. 21, 2015)

A nurse/administrator sued a hospital (her former employer) under a workers’ compensation retaliation statute for disability discrimination, retaliation, and failure to accommodate claims under the disability provisions of the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and also under a state whistleblower statute. The hospital filed a motion for summary judgment.

As for her first claim, the court held that due to the timing of her termination and the circumstances surrounding her injury, including the fact that she had to remind her supervisor to submit her claim, she raised a genuine issue of material fact of whether her termination was more probably than not a result of her workers’ compensation claim. Thus, the claim survived summary judgment. As for the ADA and Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law claims, which, according to the court, provide similar rights and remedies, the court held that because there was no documentation of any performance problems before the relevant injury to the complainant, she has brought sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue as to whether the cited reason for her termination was pretext for discrimination. Thus, the claim survives summary judgment.

The court dismissed the retaliatory discharge claim because she did not provide enough specific evidence – other than general animosity toward her after her complaints – to support her claim. The court dismissed her failure to accommodate under the ADA claim because she returned to work after injury with a full release from her doctor and did not ask for any accommodations. The court dismissed her whistleblower claim because the statute provided protection to an employee only if he or she discloses or threatens to disclose an act or practice in violation of state law and the only related state law claim she offered – the claim of assault and battery against a particular physician – was never reported to the hospital.