Wrongful termination? Age discrimination?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Critical Care.

Let me start with some facts. I am 45 years old and have been an RN for over 18 years. The last 9 years I have worked in critical care at one particular hospital. (2000-2009) I received my CCRN certification in 2006. I have had an excellent record for the 1st 8.5 years, only disciplined once in 2001 for excessive abscences. We are allowed 3, and I was sick 4 times that year. In September of 2008, we hired a new Manager for the ICU. Within one month, I was called into her office and disciplined for "not washing my hands enough." I disagreed with her assessment as it was only subjective and filled with conjecture as there was no documentation, but I signed the paper any way, thinking that woul be the end of it. But I was wrong. On Feb. 19th, 2009, I was called in to the office again and summarily fired for very weak reasons as I will enumerate.

The first reason for my termination was the fact that while serving on the infection control team, I "failed to turn in enough handwashing audits". Handwashing audits consisted of spying on fellow employees and watching to see if they washed their hands before entering and exiting patient's rooms. This was not part of my regular duties as I had 2-3 patients to care for and did not always have time to sit and watch people. Besides, in the ICU, if you are thinking about handwashing audits you're not thinking about your patients as you should be. The number of audits they expected was merely arbitrary as no set amount was given to turn in each month. I missed October's, but turned in my audits for November, December, and January, plus I attended every meeting of the team. Yet, on my termination sheet it was listed that I was not "an active member of the team".

During the time period of September through the day I was let go, they continued to have me precept a total of 3 new hires to the unit. In January, while precepting , I made some unprofessional remarks at the desk after a family told our manager that they didn't want me caring for their father any more as they alledged that I was unresponsive to his needs. I admitted this as I was upset because I had busted my butt for this patient all day. The reason the were upset was that he put his call light on at 1510 (Shift report is 1500-1530) and told me his colostomy bag was full. I took extra care to empty the bag and to retrieve a syringe so I could irrigate the bag so it would be extra clean. It took to 1530 to complete and I left to give report. As I was walking out of the room, the patient said that he had some mucus drainage from his rectum and needed to be changed. As he was a large man I needed help anyway, so I asked the 2nd shift aide to get help and see if they cant get him cleaned up as soon as possible, because I was already late for report and didn't want them to start out the shift already behind. I assumed that he was cleaned up and didn't hear about anything until the next day.

The next day I was precepting another male nurse and was told of the family wishes at 1430 (my orientee was caring for him)and was somewhat upset and made some remarks which I regret in front of my colleagues, but no one else. The third reason I was terminated was that I "allowed a unit of blood to expire and blame it on someone else." While it is true that the blood was allowed to expire, it was not my doing as the surgeon for my orientee's patient came in at 1510 and wrote an order to transfuse one unit of blood "today". It was not an emergency as his crit was just starting to drift down. My orientee did not tell me about the order and ordered the blood from the blood bank without my knowledge and without setting up for the blood or waiting so we could go over the hospital blood tranfusion policy before giving it. It was a busy day and in addition to precepting him, I also had my own patient to care for. At 1535, he set a unit of blood in front of me as I was charting on my patient and said, "here you go." I had no idea who this was for and after he explained it to me I told him he should have waited for me and asked him to check with the PM nurse who had already assumed the patient's care, to ask about giving the blood. The PM nurse threw a fit and started arguing and by the time things were figured out, the blood had sat out too long. A mistake, yes, but not one belonging to just one person and certainly not a reason to terminate a longstanding employee.

Given the fact that I had a great record up until the new manager came in and I was let go for such petty reasons in such a hurried manner suggests that she had intentions of getting rid of me and was looking for any justification. After I was let go, I realized I had been training my replacement as there was no reason to hire a new day shift nurse if I was still going to be there. Plus the fact that all 3 of the new nurses hired to replace me were in their mid 20's with less experience combined than I had.

I would be interested in what other people think. Please feel free to ask questions.

Specializes in ER, Peds ER.

I'm very much on the younger end of nurses at 25 (though I've been a working nurse for almost 5 years) but at 45 you're really not that old for a nurse. I've seen new grads that were in your age bracket. Did you have any issues with co workers or your new manager? Outside of the handwashing thing, which sounds BS to me, you made some mistakes but as nurses we all make mistakes. Can these mistake make your firing legit, sure, but I've seen nurses make far worse mistakes and keep their jobs. You mentioned making 'unprofessional comments' most people make unprofessional comments from time to time but had you ever made them in the ear shot of someone who might have been offended? It doesn't seem to me like your age has a lot to do with it. And as for trying to replace for that so they could bring in a younger crew of new hires or new grads, most managers know that new grad especially don't always have that long of a shelf life, and a new hire regardless of experience or age is always a risk as opposed to a proven stable employee. The best advice, take your experience and move on, even with this firing you should be able to find another job.

i don't know if it's wrongful, but i don't think it's ageism.

many mgrs find young or new nurses ideal, since they would seemingly be more receptive to learning.

best of everything.

leslie

Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Experience= expensive warm body

New grad= cheaper warm body

Ageism and capitalism collide!

Experience= expensive warm body

New grad= cheaper warm body

Ageism and capitalism collide!

yes - key point.

they are MUCH cheaper.

leslie

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

You may want to check with an attorney that specializes in employment discrimination.

I know in my state, it can take as little to prove it...if the employee that was terminated was in a "protected age class" (and 45 qualifies for it...you can find that on the EEOC website easily, which is Federal), and you are replaced by someone who is younger and they pay less.

Each state is different...this is just mine, but it may be worth asking about.

Specializes in Critical Care.
Experience= expensive warm body

New grad= cheaper warm body

Ageism and capitalism collide!

This, plus obvious personality clashes with the new management.

If you live in an at will state, they don't have to have a good reason or any reason to fire you. Firing you for somebody cheaper, while unethical, wouldn't be wrongful termination in this situation.

You'd have quite an uphill battle if you wish to seek wrongful termination for ageism based on what you have shared.

I am hoping things work out for you. I know all to well that if your manager doesn't like you you won't be around long. This has happened to me. I am devastated, I am hoping that at my age I am still employable. I am 60 and was hoping to work for many more years. Let me know how you do.

If you live in an at will state, they don't have to have a good reason or any reason to fire you. Firing you for somebody cheaper, while unethical, wouldn't be wrongful termination in this situation.

Indeed.

To prove ageism the claimant has to be able to prove that the preponderance of evidence would show that they fired you solely because of your age. In an at-will employment state, firing an older nurse because they are highly experienced and thus expensive would not fall into this category.

All they have to show is that they fired you because the price of you is = to or greater than the price of 2 or more 'less experienced' nurses. Which would make it a fiduciary cause and not an illegal one.

In the end, even if you did win you HAVE to take your job back. Despite the illegality of it, they WOULD find a much more solid reason to fire you again.

I can't imagine it is worth it in any case.

This, plus obvious personality clashes with the new management.

If you live in an at will state, they don't have to have a good reason or any reason to fire you. Firing you for somebody cheaper, while unethical, wouldn't be wrongful termination in this situation.

You'd have quite an uphill battle if you wish to seek wrongful termination for ageism based on what you have shared.

Yup, the new manager decided to get rid of you (most likely to reduce cost) the day she was hired. It is very hard to prove but it is happening all over. No matter what you did or did not do wrong she would have dug and dug until she found something. You have my sympathy and if you fight it I hope you win. However, most people just put it behind them and move on to something better. Remember that same manager is going to be giving depositions to lawyers when the law suits start to rain down on her head as result of her pushing experienced people out. It is very easy to ruminate about the situation but like I said the happiest people seem to be the ones that move on quickly. Good luck and best wishes.

Tom-

You could hire a lawyer to review your case.

Most hospitals have an external review board, where you r manager can present their case and you can present your side.

It sounds like several situations where taken out of context and painted in the worst possible way. What is on your side,

why did they have you precept - 3 people if you were an marginal nurse.

Handwashing is hot topic and a Joint Commission Standard, if you felt the assessment was wrong you made a mistake in

signing the form. Also if you were require to do audits and didn't do them you should have notified your manager you didn't

have time to do this since your were performing patient care. Are they enforcing this standard on all clinicians including docs?

That could be a ding against management.

Best of luck.

Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

When I was a landscaper, I sometimes took a job in the winters at whatever restaurant that was hiring at the time. Had a friend at one family place that was trying to break through to management. He had to go to a one month long camp when he got the job. One of the courses at the camp was for first time managers. He told me about it cause it was funny, but the wisdom of the class was priceless.

The first time managers wiated in a lunch room that looked like an old texas bar. A guy came in, dressed in a cowboy uniform, and claimed "I'm making some changes to this place." He then proceeded to bark orders at everyone, telling one person to clean the table, another to attend to the bathroom and another to alphabetize a large stack of forms on another table.

The people did their jobs, but were very cautious and the one being told to "tend to the BR" certainly didnt pay attention to details of his assigned duty. The class ended, and it was anounced the "cowboy" was actually a very prominent administrator who actually was the one who wrote up your reviews on how you did at the camp.............practically decided if you were getting the managerial position or not.

The point was, the cowboy was the "New Sherif in Town". No one new him, he hadnt formed relations with anyone, and being the "boss" at the time did nothing for getting people motivated about what they were doing at the time.

New managers make two very common mistakes...............1. The walk in with a "New Sherif in Town" chip on their shoulder and declare they are going to make big changes. But the people they have to rely on to make said changes have not aquired any confidence in them yet. So, even though they listen and do as they are told, they are catious and often slow to accept the changes. 2. They begin firing people simply because they can, not because it is necessary. Its a new power they have and its a well known fact.............most new managers, when they make their first couple firings, are firing the "people I would have fired in the past but couldnt", not the ones they are actually firing.

It sounds to me that you got caught up in a tornado with a new manager who was fresh and............a bit out of her league still. Dont take it personal. Chances are, with the economy, they picked her because she was new and cost less not because she would perform well or be good for the unit.

Move on, dont waste your time beating a dead horse, and consider it a new freedom to try something new at a new facility.

+ Add a Comment