Wrongful termination? Age discrimination?

[TomCCRN1991]

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.

[TomCCRN1991]

Thank all of you for your input. I am working very hard to find another job using some inside connections I've acqired over the years and trying to move on as quickly as I can. I'm waiting to hear from lawyers about my case, and if I can have a good case , that would just be a bonus. I'm actually not cheaper, if you are talking salary, but with benefits and pension, I could be. The worst thing she did though was weaken a unit as other experienced nurses will be quitting, leaving the unit with few experienced nurses. The new manager, hersef, doesn't know any of the computer charting, the Docs, protocols, etc. In wisconsin, the law says that you dont have to prove that age was the sole factor in a termination, just a factor. When you are over 40 though, and have child support to pay, you worry about it alot.

[JustMe]

For your next job, look for one that has a union. I belong to a union for the very reason you state: wrongful termination. My boss likes to fire people but because of the union almost all of her terminations have been overturned. I think of it as similar to paying my malpractice insurance. My union dues are insurance against wrongful termination. Just my 2cents.

[sarahwaddell]

Regarding TomCCRN' post: There is a disturbing trend at the ER where I work in which the oldest most-experienced

nurses are being fired for bogus reasons, though in reality apparently to save money on salaries. They are dropping like flies. A lot of us feel like we're walking around with an X on our backs. These terminations began with a change in management and during budget cuts.

The reasons given, although hard to dig up and by word of mouth only, include: "signed doctor's name in box

at bottom of cardiac arrest documentation sheet," "let patient go to MRI with blood product infusing." No patient

harm has occurred.

Some of the nurses fired have been the most dedicated and careful; at least one had been there for 15 years.

Meanwhile all other kinds of infractions pass. Obviously noone is perfect and the number of policies, rules and

documentation requirements constantly increase. Some policies are very stupid as any nurse can attest. It is ridiculously

easy to find a reason to fire.

The basic problem is "at will" employment. We have a union but it has been less than useless. It makes me sad

to see the potentially powerful nursing profession trampled on by big business. If only we worked for ourselves

and had a contract with the hospital, as the doctors do.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Sorry hon, but age discrimination can't even be considered as grounds unless you are past the half-century mark because that's when you become part of a 'protected class'. Even in my neck of the woods, where I swear employment litigation is a hobby with some folks - you can't get a lawyer to take on an age discrimination case because it is so difficult to prove. You have to convince a jury that there has been a clear pattern of discriminatory behavior on the part of your employer.

It seems like as hospitals become more focused on customer service, it's getting easier to terminate people based on their "attitudes" and interpersonal skills than on clinical competency issues. I'm sure that some of my most beloved mentors - super competent but very cranky - would not make it far in todays world. Speaking of which - did you take a look at the Nurse Jackie episode? I think she'd be fired also - LOL.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I am happy to read you have consulted a lawyer as we nurses are not legal experts.

Howver ... I don't think the fact that your replacement was younger than you are isn't enough evidence to say you were fired because of your age. It may very well be that the applicants tend to be younger than the average staff member.

I would think that there would need to be a number of older nurses with stories similar to yours to establish age discrimination. If other nurses over age 40 have not received similar treatment, it would be hard to show that your termination was due to age.

Also ... your situation points out the need for all of us to be careful about what we sign and what we "admit" to in the process. I was reading an article by an attorney today that was saying that nurses oftern "hang themselves" by admitting to mistakes as they sign incident reports, disciplinary documents, etc. -- and that we should be careful about the exact words we use as those "admissions of guilt" can be used against us someday.

[2BSure]

To the OP: In the role of Devil's Advocate....

You were on the infection control team weren't you? You knew what would be required of you but did not meet the objective.

Twice you admitted to inappropriate remarks/comments while on duty -- once at the desk and once while precepting.

You said you had a good record before this manager came on. Perhaps your record was clear but I cannot imagine that you just started making inappropriate remarks while on duty, the day this manager started. Is it possible you have never been called on this behavior before?

Just some thoughts...

[blueheaven]

I had a similar experience at a hospital that I worked at. I had an impeccable record and no complaints about my care until I was involved with attempting to organize the RNs. I busted my butt for this facility, was active on 4 committees, worked OT out the waazoo when we were short etc. After my union involvement however, things went down hill. I really think my nurse manager was forced to write me up over every little nit picky thing coming and going. While I was off for 3 months on sick leave, the NM called me and told me to look for another job. She and her husband were leaving the area and there would be another NM (a total airhead and yes person). You got it...One month after I went back to work I was given the boot.

Talk with a labor attorney. It can't hurt. I wish I would have. Unfortunately though most hospital have an "at will" clause.

[Teacher Sue]

Taking legal action will probably only cost you time and stress. You can be assured that before you were terminated, your manager had plenty of documentation to support her position. She undoubtedly talked with someone in Human Resources and made sure all of her documentation was correct and in order. This is one reason why you should always get copies of anything you sign, especially anything disciplinary. Even in at will states, most managers will make sure they have enough documentation to support their disciplinary actions in order to avoid problems later. I'm not saying what was done was right, only that she will have some kind of supporting paperwork.

[janetjanetbobanet]

After watching three of us in my unit in our late 50's fall prey to this kind of discrimination, I am wondering just how prevalent this trend is. I left my job when paperwork started to accumulate against me for bogus reasons after many years of having good evaluations and a clean record. I was 58. Another co-worker was forced through similar means to retire six months early. A third co-worker in her 50's successfully put a stop to an attempt to discredit and fire her by going to human relations and somehow getting some support. If three of us had this happen in just one unit in a hospital that was having budget problems, I wonder how many others in my hospital were victims? The hospital was quoted in the news months later as having solved some of their budget problems without laying off, but through "attrition" instead. Forced attrition, I say. Colorado is an "at-will" state and I have been told there is probably not much we can do. Otherwise I would love to see how many would be interested in a class action lawsuit. But sooner or later in this country, someone is going to notice that older nurses are being forced out of the workplace and newer, less experienced nurses are replacing them and hopefully be able to do something about it. Nothing against new nurses, having been one myself once, but this practice is unfair and ultimately detrimental to the patients when the average experience level of the nursing staff falls to the point of being dangerous.

[caliotter3]

This is nothing new. It happened to my Dad 40 years ago. It happened to my uncle 45 years ago. Employers have always known how much money they can save by preventing a worker from getting their retirement. These days, the employers have done away with the good retirement programs, but they still get rid of the employees who have the higher paychecks.