Outten v. Genesis Health Care, LLC (Summary)

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

Outten v. Genesis Health Care, LLC, Civil Action No. 13-4708 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 12, 2014)

The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted summary judgment to a health care center on a former employee’s claims that she was terminated because of her age and disability and in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The plaintiff, a 60-year-old woman, was terminated from her position as nursing supervisor for the night shift at a nursing home operated by the health care center when she failed to report to work during Hurricane Sandy. The nursing home had a strict written policy stating that staff were not allowed to miss a shift on account of bad weather, and anyone who was found to have abandoned his or her job would be immediately dismissed. Seven other nurses were reprimanded and two were terminated for failing to report during the storm. The supervising nurse was then replaced by another nurse who was 22 years younger.

The court dismissed the supervising nurse’s claims of age and disability discrimination, finding that she failed to present sufficient evidence to show the termination was due to discrimination rather than job abandonment. The court held first that there was not sufficient evidence to show the supervising nurse’s termination was due solely to Hurricane Sandy, as she had already been reprimanded for missing shifts in the past. The supervising nurse was not treated disparately due to discrimination because she was not the only employee who was terminated. Furthermore, the supervising nurse could not hold herself out as similarly situated to the other nurses, because she was held to a higher standard as their supervisor.

Additionally, the supervising nurse failed to establish a causal connection between her termination and her FMLA leave. The court held that even if the one-month proximity between her FMLA leave and her termination could be found causal, it did not undermine the fact that the supervising nurse engaged in behavior that knowingly violated the code of conduct for the nursing home.