On August 27, 2018, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an Illinois District Court in holding that a seventy-year-old homosexual woman could maintain her Fair Housing Act (FHA) claims against retirement community, Glen St. Andrew Living Community, for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the “torrent of physical and verbal abuse from other
Healthcare
Preparing for ICE Enforcement Actions at “Sensitive Locations”
ICE and CPB consider hospitals and other healthcare facilities to be sensitive locations where enforcement actions should be avoided without prior approval or unless there are exigent circumstances. Despite that policy, undocumented aliens continue to be arrested at medical facilities where they are receiving treatment or where they have accompanied ailing family members. Since the…
Labor Department Independent Contractors Guidance Targets Home Care, Nursing, Caregiver Registries
In its first substantive guidance on independent contractors, the Trump Administration has targeted misclassification in the healthcare industry. Our colleagues in the Staffing & Independent Workforce team offer details on the July 13, 2018 guidance to Wage and Hour Division field staff on determining whether home care, nurse, or caregiver registries are employers under the…
Physician Pay Equity Issues Are Under the Microscope
As our blog reported on June 21, and as is the case across many industries, issues related to physician pay equity are receiving increased attention nationwide.
Doximity’s 2018 Physician Compensation Report (its second annual report) contained key national findings on the gender wage gap that point to widespread disparities in physician compensation:
- The overall disparity
…
Fifth Circuit Permits Employee Allegedly Harassed by Patient to Proceed to Trial
A recent Fifth Circuit decision reminds healthcare employers that liability not only stems from potential harassment of employees by coworkers, but by patients as well. In Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, L.L.C. dba Plaza Community Living Center, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 17939 (5th Cir. June 29, 2018), the Fifth Circuit held that Kymberli Gardner,…
Fifth Circuit Finds Employer’s Peer Review Process Does Not Constitute an Adverse Employment Action
The federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an interesting decision finding that the actions of an employer’s peer review committee did not constitute an adverse employment action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This decision was driven by the specific facts presented to the court, so it does not…
November 2018 Ballot Question Seeks to Impose Registered Nurse-to-Patient Ratio Limits on Massachusetts Health Care Facilities
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the state’s highest court, has held that an Initiative Petition (Initiative Petition 17-07) seeking to create a new law (“The Patient Safety Act”) that would dictate to hospitals and acute care units in state-operated health care facilities the number of patients that may be assigned to a registered nurse…
Is Your Institution Doing Enough to Reduce Disruptive Physician Behavior?
Disruptive physicians are staple characters on television shows about the medical field. Some of the most recent T.V. doctors of this vein that come to mind are Dr. Gregory House of House and Dr. Perry Cox of Scrubs. While Dr. House and Dr. Cox present entertaining caricatures of disruptive physician behavior (“DPB”), in “real life”…
American Medical Association Adopts Resolution to Promote Pay Equity
The healthcare industry is following other industries with an increased focus and growing sense of alarm over the gender pay gap.
According to Doximity, in 2017, female physicians on average earned $105,000 (27.7%) less than male physicians. Similarly, a 2016 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that female academic physicians…
Are You Accessible In Cyberspace?—Healthcare Is Not Immune From the Latest ADA Title III Trend
Public accommodation lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have been around for years, but traditionally involve physical barriers such as narrow parking spots or access aisles, lack of elevators, and inaccessible restrooms. Increasingly, these lawsuits are not just confined to brick-and-mortar accommodations, but involve cyberspace. For example, individuals who are…