Herbert J. Thomas Memorial Hosp. Assn v. Nutter — Nov. 2016 (Summary)

RETALIATION CLAIM BY NURSE

Herbert J. Thomas Mem’l Hosp. Ass’n v. Nutter
No. 15-0695 (W. Va. Nov.17, 2016)

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed a jury verdict of over $1 million in favor of a nurse who claimed she was wrongfully discharged in violation of public policy after she raised concerns about the hospital’s med-psych unit where she was the charge nurse.

The court reasoned that the nurse failed to offer any evidence from which a jury could actually conclude that the hospital violated any public policy principles.  With regard to the nurse’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, the court rejected the nurse’s assertion that the hospital exceeded the bounds of decency when it wrongfully discharged her with the goal of undermining public policy. The hospital claimed that it terminated the nurse because she intentionally and falsely completed documentation in patient files, and at best the record established that the nurse completed the documentation carelessly and improperly. As such, the court concluded that the hospital’s actions were not so extreme and outrageous as to support a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress and dismissed the nurse’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. With respect to the nurse’s defamation claim, the court concluded that her claim was barred by a one-year statute of limitation.  It noted, however, that the hospital’s chief nursing officer was compelled by ethics rules to report the nurse’s termination to the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses.

Lastly, the court found that there existed sufficient evidence on the record such that a jury could rule in favor of the nurse on her unpaid wage claim. However, after reviewing the lower court’s abuse of discretion in the admission and refusal to admit evidence favorable to the hospital and asking over 300 questions of witnesses over the objections of the hospital, the court found the jury’s entire verdict inherently unreliable and remanded the nurse’s unpaid wages claim for further proceedings.