Ex-school nurse gets $50,000 in settlement with SAD 27

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

Remember the Fort Kent school nurse? Nice to see the legal system work in our favor!

http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=118547

BANGOR-A nurse who once worked for a St. John Valley school district and who claimed she was fired illegally will receive $50,000 in a settlement reached earlier this month.

Lola C. Charette of Fort Kent in January sued SAD 27 and Superintendent Sandra B. Bernstein in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Charette claimed she was fired for refusing to divulge to school officials or parents requests from high school students for confidential reproductive health care treatment. In addition to a jury trial, she had sought lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney's fees and to be reinstated as the district's school nurse.

The lawsuit also alleged that the superintendent fired Charette because the superintendent said the former school nurse had violated "community norms" when she helped students obtain pregnancy tests and related reproductive medical treatment without parental consent.

"[Charette] did the right thing," her attorney, David G. Webbert of Augusta, said Thursday. "She did what she had to do. She got fired for doing her job. ... The superintendent didn't like the law and fired the messenger. Lola was the scapegoat."

SAD 27's attorney, Melissa Hewey of Portland, said Thursday that the district's decision to settle had "nothing to do with the merits of the claim and everything to do with the economics of the lawsuit."

"The reason the case settled," Hewey said, "is that the district has no insurance for the claim. The board felt it would cost more to go through a federal case and win. Board members felt the fiscally responsible thing to do was to settle the case at this time."

The Portland attorney also said that the district is disputing its insurance company's denial of the claim, which was based on the date it was filed.

Charette, who worked for 20 years as the school nurse in SAD 27, claimed that she was fired Jan. 31, 2003, when she refused to tell the superintendent, other school officials and parents why she had taken two female students from Fort Kent High School to a medical appointment.

Had the case gone to trial, Nancy Dube, president of the Maine Association of School Nurses, would have testified that state confidentiality laws and state licensing regulations require that nurses not disclose medical information without a patient's permission, Webbert said. The students were Charette's patients.

"This is a pretty large settlement," the Augusta attorney said Thursday. "I think that it sends the message to school nurses that they shouldn't feel like they can't do their jobs."

Although Charette wanted her old job back, that was not possible. Since her firing, the district has outsourced the job, according to Webbert. Discussions about that possibility, a growing trend throughout the state, began in 2002, and were not related directly to the nurse's firing.

Charette currently is working in the St. John Valley as a home health nurse.

The district includes Fort Kent, Eagle Lake, New Canada, St. Francis, St. John, Wallagrass and Winterville.

"This is a pretty large settlement. I think that it sends the message to school nurses that they shouldn't feel like they can't do their jobs."

David G. Webbert of Augusta, attorney for Lola C. Charette

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Remember the Fort Kent school nurse? Nice to see the legal system work in our favor!

It seems to be working against the parents however. I would not be happy if my daughter did not come to me and went to a stranger in her moment of need.

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This is too bad. I think the nurse was wrong. But that's been hashed out on the original thread.

steph

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
This is too bad. I think the nurse was wrong. But that's been hashed out on the original thread.

steph

Hashed out ad nauseum! So, no more comment from here either, except to say that would have been very suprised if she'd lost her case.

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Good for her! Glad to hear it!

Thanks for the update. :)

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Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.

Yay for the nurse for standing up for herself and patient confidentiality. Glad to see it went the way it did but $50,000 isn't much really when the lawyer will take (perhaps) up to half of that.

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Confidentiality can be the defining line on whether a person seeks help or not. I can only imagine the situations and questions a school nurse could face from students that they may be too embarrassed :imbar to ask their parents or too afraid of disappointing their parents :nono: to seek their guidance.

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Would she have been allowed to take the young ladies(without parent permission) to the doctor for something other than "reproductive services"? You can't imagine what sort of forms I had to sign when my daughter wanted her ears pierced and I had to show an I.D. to show I was her mother. So I don't see why this lady was allowed to take these children behind their parent's backs.

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
Confidentiality can be the defining line on whether a person seeks help or not. I can only imagine the situations and questions a school nurse could face from students that they may be too embarrassed :imbar to ask their parents or too afraid of disappointing their parents :nono: to seek their guidance.

Excellent point. That hadn't really been addressed on the original thread. Ruling against the nurse could have set an unfortunate precedent.

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There is a new publication just out this month:

Schwab, N. C., Ruben, M., Maire, J. A., Gelfman, M. H. B, Bergren, M. D., Mazyck, D. & Hine, B. (2005). Protecting and sharing student health information: Guidelines for developing school district policies and procedures. Kent, OH: American School Health Association.

You can find information on the ASHA web site http://www.ashaweb.org under publications - school nurse/health services materials.

Also, it is imperitive that each school nurse understands minors' rights to confidentiality and consent for treatment in their respective states. Lola Charette was following Maine's confidentiality laws, but minors' rights can vary significantly from state to state. In some states you could jeaprodize your license for sharing information with parents, in other states you are obligated to share. Sharing confidential student health information with a superintendent because he demands to be told would never be OK - it does not meet the FERPA definition of "legitimate educational interest". To see the minors rights in your state, go to:

http://www.agi-usa.org/sections/adolescents.php?pub=spib

Excellent point. That hadn't really been addressed on the original thread. Ruling against the nurse could have set an unfortunate precedent.
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not going to get into who was right or wrong, i made my opinon known on the original thread, however I am happy with the settlement and the fact that the nurse has another job.

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So it goes back to knowing your state's laws and following them. I had mixed feelings about this one; but the message is:nurses must obey the law in regards to this issue.

She sacrificed a lot (her job, local outcry) to help these young ladies get the care they are entitled under the law. I'm sure she is stigmatized in the community because of it but glad she found other work..

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