A registered nurse suing Duke University Hospital for harassment and unfair termination received a split decision by a Durham judge last week.
Durham resident Constance Donahue may continue her charge in Superior Court that Duke intentionally inflicted emotional distress on her through its allegedly "extreme and outrageous conduct," Judge Robert Hobgood ruled. However, he also dismissed Donahue's claim that she was fired because of her union activity, referring that part of her suit to the National Labor Relations Board.
Donahue's attorney Stewart Fisher could not be reached for comment, but told The Herald-Sun of Durham Sunday that his client would probably not bring the suit to the NLRB. He also said he was "very pleased" that Donahue's emotional-distress claim remains on track.
Duke denies that claim, and tried unsuccessfully to convince Hobgood to throw out the entire case. University officials could not be reached for comment and generally do not speak about ongoing litigation against the Hospital.
In the suit, Donahue claims Hospital officials terminated her because she was vocal in pushing for a nurses union--not because she left a patient for about 11 minutes to take a bathroom and cigarette break June 26, 2002, as officials said.
The suit names the University and Duke University Health System as defendants, and it specifies Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. William Fulkerson; Clinical Operations Director of General Surgery, Trauma and Transplant Christine Roeback; and Nurse Manager for the Surgical Intensive Care Unit Elizabeth Hickey as individuals involved in the firing.
In 1999 and 2000, Donahue served as an organizer in the movement to join the International Union of Operating Engineers, which already represents Hospital engineers and skilled maintenance employees. After an October 2000 vote to unionize failed, Fulkerson, Roeback and Hickey all spoke individually with Donahue about why a union was not a good idea, the suit alleges.
In April 2002, after Fulkerson became CEO, the Hospital announced a cut in health benefits for future retirees. Donahue claims widespread discontent among nurses and other employees refueled a unionization campaign, which Fulkerson and others did not welcome. Two months later, Donahue left a patient for a bathroom break, and she was fired for the action a month after that.
The suit also charges that Hickey and Roeback falsified a Surgical Intensive Care Unit reference guide by adding an undated protocol entitled "R.N. Cross Coverage" after the June 26 incident, which requires that a registered nurse must notify the charge nurse or a neighboring nurse if the nurse must leave a patient. Fisher said a page of the guide was redone and placed back inside the loose-leaf binder in the SICU.
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