Christus St. Vincent Reg'l Med. Ctr. v. Dist. 1199NM
| Decision Date | 30 March 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV 17-0452 JB\KK,CIV 17-0452 JB\KK |
| Citation | 347 F.Supp.3d 887 |
| Parties | CHRISTUS ST. VINCENT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Plaintiff, v. DISTRICT 1199NM, NATIONAL UNION OF HOSPITAL AND HEALTHCARE EMPLOYEES, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
Ellen S. Casey, Jaclyn M. McLean, Hinkle, Hensley, Shanor & Martin LLP, Santa Fe, NM, Hari-Amrit Khalsa, Hinkle Shanor LLP, Albuquerque, NM, Charles Birenbaum, Jamie Adams, Greenburg Traurig, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff.
Shane C. Youtz, James A. Montalbano, Stephen Curtice, Youtz & Valdez PC, Albuquerque, NM, for Defendant.
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on: (i) the Plaintiff Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center's Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award, filed April 13, 2017 (Doc. 1) ("Petition"); and (ii) the Defendant's Motion to Enforce Arbitration Award, filed April 27, 2017 (Doc. 9)("Motion"). The Court held a hearing on January 19, 2018. The primary issues are: (i) whether the arbitration provisions in the Nurse Agreement between Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center & District 1199 NM National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees AFSCME, AFL-CIO, October 15, 2014 to August 31, 2017 (Doc. 1-3) ("CBA")—which state that an arbitration award may be set aside under certain conditions—change the standard of review for arbitration awards, which the Supreme Court of the United States articulated in the Steelworkers Trilogy1 ; (ii) whether the arbitrator, Michael S. Hill,2 exceeded his authority by ordering a fired employee reinstated; (iii) whether the arbitration award violates public policy by not disciplining an employee who allegedly violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 ("HIPAA"); and (iv) whether Plaintiff Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center's ("St. Vincent") claims were frivolous and brought in bad faith such that the Court should award attorneys' fees and costs. The Court concludes: (i) the CBA does not change the Court's standard of review, because the CBA's arbitration provisions restate traditional standard of review principles; (ii) the arbitrator did not exceed his authority, because the award draws from the CBA's essence; (iii) the award does not violate public policy, because there is no evidence that the employee violated HIPAA; and (iv) the Court will not award fees or costs, because St. Vincent did not pursue frivolous arguments or act in bad faith. Accordingly, the Court denies the Petition, and grants the Motion in part and denies it in part.
St. Vincent is a hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. See Petition ¶ 1, at 1. Defendant District 1199NM, National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, AFSCME, AFL-CIO ("Hospital Union") is a labor union based in Santa Fe. See Petition ¶ 2, at 1. St. Vincent and the Hospital Union entered into the CBA. See CBA at 1. The CBA states that St. Vincent has the "exclusive discretion" to execute certain actions, including "[d]ecisions concerning the hiring, termination, assignment, transfer, demotion and promotion of associates," CBA § 7.1.12, at 7-8, and "[d]ecisions concerning the counseling, reprimanding, discipline and discharge of associates for just cause with the specific understanding that any discipline must be for just cause and that the Union may grieve and arbitrate any such decisions," CBA § 7.1.16., at 8. The CBA establishes a progressive disciplinary process:
The CBA has several provisions relating to arbitration:
Sharon Argenbright is a Registered Nurse who worked at St. Vincent for over twenty years. See Response to Petitioner's Motion to Vacate Arbitration Award at 1, filed April 27, 2017 (Doc. 8)("Petition Response"). Argenbright was an active union member. See Petition ¶ 7, at 7 (). On May 16, 2015, Argenbright took a break from her work shift to enter the Post Anesthesia Care Unit ("PACU") area of Surgical Services and look through PACU's log books. Corrective Action Form at 1 (dated May 28, 2015) at 1, filed April 13, 2017 (Doc. 1-6)("Final Warning"). Argenbright was searching for patient information relating to a grievance the Hospital Union filed on behalf of a recently terminated nurse. See Final Warning at 1; Petition ¶ 17, at 6. St. Vincent investigated the incident and determined that Argenbright's unauthorized entry into a secured area during her work shift to access confidential patient records on the Hospital Union's behalf is "so egregious that it warrants skipping steps in the progressive disciplinary process and issuing this corrective action as a Final Warning." Final Warning at 2. The Final Warning directs Argenbright to refrain from certain actions, such as "using her ID security badge to enter unauthorized or secure areas unless she is assigned to work in that area," "conducing non-work related business during working hours," and "looking at protected health information unless she has a need to know." Final Warning at 2-3. The Final Warning concludes by stating: "Consequences of further infractions: Failure to immediately and continually adhere to the corrective measure described above may result in further corrective action up to and including termination for similar or any other hospital policy violation." Final Warning at 3.
In early 2016, according to St. Vincent, Argenbright "was involved in a series of incidents that taken separately each warrant discipline, and taken together, warrant termination." Corrective Action Form (dated February 18, 2016) at 1, filed April 13, 2017 (Doc. 1-7) ("Termination Form"). First, according to St. Vincent, during a shift on January 11, 2016, Argenbright "direct[ed] patient care providers to the Clinical Supervisor at a rate that seemed unnecessary." Termination Form at 1. Second, according to St. Vincent, during an investigative meeting relating to Argenbright's January 11, 2016, shift, Argenbright "revealed that she was in possession of documents containing private healthcare information." Termination Form at 1. When "management attempted to investigate the nature of the documents, Ms. Argenbright refused to cooperate." Termination Form at 1. Third, according to St. Vincent, on January 18, 2016, Argenbright "failed to gain the confidence of [a] patient, ... fail[ed] to communicate properly about a perceived lack of responsiveness to the patient's pain, was unaware of care requirements for oxygen, and failed to reassign the patient formally to another nurse." Termination Form at 3. Fourth, on February 2, 2016, Argenbright entered the Surgical Services' break room to eat lunch, and leave a Union card and labor contract for an employee named Kathleen Cass. See Termination Form at 3; Petition ¶ 27, at 9. According to St. Vincent, she had tried to enter the Surgical Services area by swiping her badge, but when that approach did not work, another employee let her in a different door. See Termination Form at 3. According to St. Vincent, after lunch, Argenbright returned to her usual workplace in the hospital and realized that she may have left her "report sheet" in the Surgical Services area; she returned to Surgical Services and was once again let into the area by another employee. See Termination Form at 3. According to St. Vincent, during this visit, Argenbright entered a patient care area to speak with Cass. See Termination Form at 3-4. Based on these four incidents, it fired Argenbright. See Termination Form at 1.
Argenbright requested arbitration. See Arbitrator's Decision and Award at 1 (dated January 13, 2016), filed April 13, 2017 (Doc. 1-2)("Award"). According to Hill, the question is "whether the Grievant was discharged for just cause and if not, what is the remedy?" Award at 3. See Reply in Support of Defendant's Motion to Enforce Arbitration Award, filed June 14, 2017 (Doc. 20)("Reply")( that the question for the Arbitrator was whether grievant was disciplined for just cause, and, if not, what is the appropriate remedy).
Hill held a hearing on October 18-19, 2017, and November 16, 2017. See Award at 1. Hill issued the Award on January 13, 2016. See Award at 1. In the Award, Hill provides a basic factual background, see Award at 3, summarizes relevant documents and the parties' positions, see Award at 3-4, and provides a lengthy summary of the evidence and testimony, see Award at 4-32. Hill's "Discussion and Decision" section runs four pages in...
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