Eaves-Voyles v. Almost Family, Inc — July 2016 (Summary)

RETALIATION AND WRONGFUL TERMINATION

Eaves-Voyles v. Almost Family, Inc.
Civ. No. 1:15-CV-2421 (M.D. Pa. July 27, 2016)

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted in part and denied in part a home care company’s motion to dismiss a nurse’s claims of retaliation and wrongful fulltexttermination.

After lodging various complaints to her supervisor, the company’s regional director, and the company’s corporate compliance office, the nurse was terminated from her position as a registered nurse clinical manager with the company.   The nurse sued, claiming that the company violated the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (“PSQIA”) and the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law by terminating her for making the complaints in good faith.  The company filed a motion to dismiss.  The court granted the motion to dismiss with respect to the nurse’s claim under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law.  According to the court, receipt of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements was insufficient to transform the company, a private entity, into a “public body” subject to the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law.  The court, however, declined to dismiss the nurse’s wrongful termination claim.  The nurse argued that the “at-will employment doctrine,” which permits an employer to terminate an employee “with or without cause, at pleasure, unless restrained by some contract,” did not apply because she was terminated in violation of public policy.  The court agreed, finding that the nurse alleged that the company terminated her after she refused to honor the company’s request to schedule nurses to perform services for which they were not qualified and, thus, in violation of Pennsylvania regulations.  The court also declined to dismiss the nurse’s claim under PSQIA, which protects individuals from adverse employment actions for good faith reporting of patient safety events to patient safety organizations.  In support of this decision, the court noted that the nurse’s complaint alleged that she intended for her concerns to “be reported in accordance with state and federal reporting requirements….”  Thus, “dismissal of [the nurse’s] PSQIA claim would be premature.”