Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires healthcare employers to protect their medical staff and employees from harassment and discrimination and respond to any such behaviors swiftly and effectively, even if the actor is a patient, rather than a coworker or supervisor. A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
harassment
Fifth Circuit Permits Employee Allegedly Harassed by Patient to Proceed to Trial
By Sarah R. Skubas on
Posted in Harassment, Healthcare
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,…
#TimesUp for the Healthcare Industry? Not If You Use the Frenzy to Make Meaningful Culture Change
By Sarah R. Skubas & Margaret J. Strange on
Posted in Harassment
As #MeToo and #TimesUp initiatives sweep the nation, the healthcare industry should pay attention.
Recent nationwide media attention on sexual harassment in healthcare, coupled with stressful work environments, means healthcare employers have their share of workplace issues. However, healthcare employers have a unique opportunity to make meaningful culture change happen now – both in the…
Court Allows Retaliation Claim to Proceed Where Reason for Termination was Unclear
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Posted in Investigations, Workplace Violence
An EMT can proceed with his retaliation claims where he presented sufficient evidence to require a trier of fact to determine whether his former employer’s asserted reason for terminating his employment is pretext for unlawful retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law, a…
Physician Whose Clinical Privileges Were Revoked Can Proceed With Hostile Work Environment Claim, Court Finds, But Dismisses Antitrust Claim
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A physician may proceed with her hostile work environment claims after a hospital revoked her clinical privileges, but may not continue with her antitrust claims because she failed to plead an antitrust injury, a federal district court ruled. Levitin and Chicago Surgical Clinic, Ltd v. Northwest Community Hospital, et al., No. 13 C 5553…