Lay v. Horizon/Cms Healthcare Corp.
| Decision Date | 19 August 1999 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 98-2295-KHV. |
| Citation | 60 F.Supp.2d 1234 |
| Parties | Henry LAY, Plaintiff, v. HORIZON/CMS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION d/b/a Indian Meadows Nursing Center, Inc., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
Bruce C. Jackson, Jr., Jason M. Pottenger, Yonke, Arnold, Newbold & Regan, P.C., Kansas City, MO, for Plaintiff.
John J. Yates, Robert J. Hoffman, Bryan Cave LLP, Sharon A. Willis, Kansas City, MO, for Defendant.
Henry Lay filed suit against his former employer, Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corporation, alleging that it discharged him in retaliation for his intent to file a workers' compensation claim, that it fraudulently induced him to sign a resignation letter, and it discharged him in violation of Kansas public policy. The matter is before the Court on Defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 46) filed June 1, 1999. After carefully considering the parties' briefs, the Court sustains the motion.
Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); accord Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1538-39 (10th Cir.1993). A factual dispute is "material" only if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "genuine" factual dispute requires more than a mere scintilla of evidence. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991). Once the moving party meets its burden, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to demonstrate that genuine issues remain for trial "as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Securities, Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991). The nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts. Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241.
"[W]e must view the record in the light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion for summary judgment." Deepwater Invs., Ltd. v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). Summary judgment may be granted if the nonmoving party's evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rely on ignorance of facts, on speculation, or on suspicion, and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial." Conaway v. Smith, 853 F.2d 789, 794 (10th Cir.1988). Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
The following facts are uncontroverted or deemed admitted for purposes of the instant motion.
Horizon employed plaintiff as a kitchen aide at Indian Meadows Nursing Center, Inc. ("Indian Meadows"), a nursing home facility. As a kitchen aide, plaintiff served water to residents and placed food items on separate carts, with identification cards, to ensure that defendant's clients, received meals corresponding to their dietary needs.
On June 16, 1997, plaintiff fell and injured his knee while working in the kitchen at the Indian Meadows facility. Sandra Dennis, Assistant Supervisor at the facility, responded and viewed plaintiff's injury. In accordance with defendant's drug testing policy, Dennis informed plaintiff that he had to take a drug test because he had been involved in an accident which required medical treatment. Horizon had a mandatory pre-employment and post-accident drug testing policy. Plaintiff knew of this policy and knew that a positive drug test would result in his discharge.
After plaintiff urinated into a test cup, Linda Ahlhelm, Director of Nursing, arrived to act as a witness to the drug test in accordance with defendant's written policies and procedures. Dennis and Ahlhelm evaluated the test. Lori Salisbury, a Human Resources Director, also was present to evaluate the drug screening. After viewing the test on the urine sample, Ahlhelm and Salisbury concluded that the test cup indicated a positive result for THC, the active ingredient of marijuana. Dennis testified that Ahlhelm was unsure of the test result until she consulted Salisbury.
Ahlhelm and Salisbury returned to the kitchen area. Ahlhelm told plaintiff that they had bad news for him. Plaintiff responded "Yeah, I know." Plaintiff thought he was responding to the condition of his knee. Ahlhelm and Salisbury understood plaintiff, however, to be affirming his use of marijuana. After Ahlhelm informed plaintiff that he had failed the drug test, he did not request a second opinion. Ahlhelm immediately discharged plaintiff and explained that his termination was due to his positive drug test for marijuana. Plaintiff asked Dennis: "What am I supposed to do with my leg?" Dennis responded "Well, you're no longer our responsibility because you're no longer employed here."
On June 27, 1997, plaintiff returned to Indian Meadows to pick up his last pay-check. Rob Fisher, an employee at Indian Meadows, told plaintiff to speak to Mark O'Hara, the Administrator of the facility. When he entered O'Hara's office, plaintiff knew that he did not have a job with Indian Meadows and that his employment had ended eleven days earlier, on June 16, 1997. O'Hara told plaintiff that he would not be eligible for workers' compensation benefits unless he resigned his position and asked plaintiff to draft a resignation letter back-dated to June 16, 1997, the date of his injury. O'Hara stated: "We need you to sign this [back-dated resignation] so we can pay the Worker's Comp; otherwise we'll have to take you to court on the drug test." Plaintiff composed and signed a resignation letter dated June 16, 1997. Defendant did not contest plaintiff's workers' compensation claim. Defendant's insurance carrier paid plaintiff $160.00 every other week for nine or ten weeks, and then a $3,500.00 payment, for his injury and related expenses.
Plaintiff claims that defendant discharged him because of his on-the-job injury. Kansas applies the common law doctrine of employment at will. See Morriss v. Coleman Co., Inc., 241 Kan. 501, 508, 738 P.2d 841, 846 (1987). Unless the parties have an express or implied contract, an employer can end the employment relationship "for good cause, for no cause, or even for a wrong cause." Id.; see Wiggins v. Housing Auth., 22 Kan. App.2d 367, 370, 916 P.2d 718, 721 (1996). The only exceptions to the rule of at-will employment are based on public policy. See Dickens v. Snodgrass, Dunlap & Co., 255 Kan. 164, 176, 872 P.2d 252, 261 (1994). One exception is that an employer may not discharge an employee for filing a workers' compensation claim. See Ortega v. IBP, Inc., 255 Kan. 513, 516-17, 874 P.2d 1188, 1191 (1994).
When analyzing state-law retaliatory discharge claims, federal courts in Kansas apply the burden-shifting approach used in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). See, e.g., Robinson v. Wilson Concrete Co., 913 F.Supp. 1476, 1483 n. 2 (D.Kan.1996); Ramirez v. IBP, Inc., 913 F.Supp. 1421, 1429 (D.Kan.1995). Plaintiff first bears the burden of proving a prima facie case of retaliatory discharge by showing (1) that he filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits or sustained a work-related injury for which he could assert a future claim for such benefits; (2) that the employer had knowledge of the plaintiff's compensation claim or the fact that he had sustained a work-related injury for which he could file a future claim for benefits; (3) that the employer terminated his employment; and (4) that a causal connection existed between the protected activity or injury, and the termination. Nguyen v. IBP, Inc., 905 F.Supp. 1471, 1481 (D.Kan.1995). If plaintiff meets this burden, he has raised a rebuttable presumption of retaliatory intent. See id.
Defendant argues that plaintiff fails to meet the fourth requirement of a prima facie case because he has not shown a causal connection between his injury and his termination. The Court need not reach this issue because even if plaintiff can establish a prima facie case, he has not offered sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that defendant's proffered reason for his termination, i.e. a positive drug test, is pretext for retaliation under the workers' compensation law. As evidence of pretext, plaintiff relies on (1) procedural irregularities in the handling of his drug test, (2) O'Hara's post-termination statement that "there were problems with the drug test," (3) O'Hara's request that plaintiff sign and back-date a resignation letter, and (4) the absence of a statement on his discharge form that he admitted using drugs.
With respect to procedural irregularities, plaintiff alleges that defendant violated K.S.A. § 65-1,108 and its own policies by failing to retain his urine sample and send it to a certified laboratory for testing. Although "disturbing procedural irregularities" may support an inference of discrimination, plaintiff...
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