Screwed or not?

caliotter3 · Oct 16, 2011

Chances are high that she will be blacklisted in her hometown by the health care employers that have heard, or will hear of, her lawsuit. That was the chance she took when she decided to sue her employer. Nothing she can do about that now.

Vershonda · Oct 17, 2011

The only thing an employer is legally able to do is verify your employment. A lawsuit that this LPN won should not hurt her or she will be entitled to sue her previous employer and possible win again.

If I was her, I would list my experience and put my chances in the Lord's hands because he is the one with the last say so in any matter. I was always told, "if you do right, then right will follow you...." If she was a great employee despite the lawsuit then she should have a good reference.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

the only thing an employer is legally able to do is verify your employment. a lawsuit that this lpn won should not hurt her or she will be entitled to sue her previous employer and possible win again.
if i was her, i would list my experience and put my chances in the lord's hands because he is the one with the last say so in any matter. i was always told, "if you do right, then right will follow you...." if she was a great employee despite the lawsuit then she should have a good reference.

that's not true. if asked if the employee would be considered for rehire, they can say "absolutely not." that, in itself, can be the death knell.

and really, if an employee was a horrible employee, was perpetually tardy or absent, stole from the facility or engaged in other despicable behavior which has been well documented, it's absurd that the employer has some legal obligation to hide this from a potential new employer. this is where our litigious society has brought us-crappy employees can behave any way they want and have the expectation that their awful work ethic or outright dangerous nursing care will be swept under the rug because their prior employers are fearful of a lawsuit.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

Okey nurses and LPNs, here is a question for you. Just found out a lady i worked with at my previous field (CNA) passed her PN exam and we are both excited as we decided to enhance our careers together and i went the RN route. Problem is, she had an incident and ended up taking the agency to court over an injury and well, won. they are still paying her.
NOW, she has graduated LPN school and has a license and while applying for jobs, is torn between putting down former employer for a reference or not! Having taken them to court, is it permanent on her record? is she going to be able to find a job with that there? Any thoughts? advise?

LPNs ARE nurses :)

The agency she sued would be idiots to NOT keep it on record in BIG letters.

If it was a legit case (not just the lawyer with the bigger mouth, since we all know law is not about what is right or true, but who wins their argument) a future employer may or may not consider it.

A bigger issue might be the fact that she sued over an injury- and nobody can predict when those happen- and if she'll sue again... jmo

tyvin, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

Most cases such as you described have both parties sign a letter of non-disclosure. That means no one can talk about it to anyone else. See if she remembers or have her call her attorney to inquire. I've won a suit against a health care facility and they would never dare breathe a word of it to anyone. I'm tempted to talk about it but as I said, most of these cases have non-disclosure clauses included.

merlee · Oct 17, 2011

So she had an injury for which she is still getting paid but is healthy enough to go to school and now work again?

I'd be more concerned that she will be taken back to court to reduce her award.

Vershonda · Oct 17, 2011

My stepsister has sued every employers she has worked for (about 4 or 5 different major companies) and she is still able to get employment for even better companies. She has sued Regions bank, AT&T, and a few others. She currently works for a State agency and has a pending lawsuit against them. Most of her lawsuits have been on the job injury or discrimination.

Like I said before, the only person that has the finally say in whether this new LPN gets a job is GOD!!!

defyinggravity2009 · Oct 17, 2011

Regardless of whether she lists the employment or not, employers will often use Google as a free background check on a potential employee, and lawsuits are public record. It's likely that if a boss is so inclined as to do a search, they will find out what happened - if she really wants to keep that information from a potential employer, then I would think she shouldn't list her previous work experience because it will definitely tie her to the old job. If she sued them and was in the right, then I don't see why she wouldn't want that information available - job interviews allow you to market yourself, and if she sued for whistle-blowing or advocacy, then she could certainly use that to her advantage.

Zookeeper3 · Oct 17, 2011

My only experience if from a peer that suffered nerve damage from catching a falling patient. having to get a lawyer to seek the qualified surgeon, not on our approved list was difficult. She won, declined surgery anyway due to risk factors and still works at our facility. They had to place here in a non patient care job. She is in Human Resource now. She had several people call for references to check and there were no issues with her lawsuit or standing.

It really depends on the facility. I would never trust anyone, and neither did she. Have some people call for reference checks to find out what the story is. After loosing a law suit, it would be absolutely STUPID to risk further litigation by a no-rehire status that has no warrent to it.

caliotter3 · Oct 17, 2011

The sure thing about questions of this nature is that someone will post that employers are forbidden from disclosing this or that about ex employees. Employers can say anything they please about a person's job performance as long as it is true. The attorney who told me this also said that when an employer says something, it is always considered to be true. Common sense. And really, people talk. In an official manner, but most of the time, unofficially. Otherwise, how does word get around? To expect word not to get around, is definitely wishful thinking.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

My stepsister has sued every employers she has worked for (about 4 or 5 different major companies) and she is still able to get employment for even better companies. She has sued Regions bank, AT&T, and a few others. She currently works for a State agency and has a pending lawsuit against them. Most of her lawsuits have been on the job injury or discrimination.
Like I said before, the only person that has the finally say in whether this new LPN gets a job is GOD!!!

Now there's an endorsement for lawsuits :up:

Anymore specific info people can watch out for? - LOL.

It's great she is able to continue working with the injuries, and keep suing everybody who employs her. :yeah: