Seabaugh v. Cassell

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: LAWRENCE G. CRAHAN; RHODES RUSSELL, P.J., LAWRENCE E. MOONEY
• Citation: Seabaugh v. Cassell, 998 S.W.2d 593 (Mo. App. 1999)
• Decision Date: 10 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. ED,ED
• Parties: Patsy SEABAUGH, Appellant, v. Martha CASSELL, Administrator, Cottonwood Treatment Center, Department of Mental Health, Respondent. 74413.

Page 593

998 S.W.2d 593

Patsy SEABAUGH, Appellant, v. Martha CASSELL, Administrator, Cottonwood Treatment Center Department of Mental Health, Respondent.

No. ED 74413.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Eastern District,

Southern Division.

Aug. 10, 1999.

Benjamin Lewis, Vogel, Layton & Lewis, L.L.C., Cape Girardeau, for appellant.

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Timothy A. Hausman, Patricia A. Molteni, Jefferson City, for respondent.

LAWRENCE G. CRAHAN, Judge.

Patsy Seabaugh appeals the decision of the Personnel Advisory Board ("Board") upholding her dismissal from her position as a Clinical Casework Assistant at Cottonwood Treatment Center ("Cottonwood") after Employee failed to follow facility procedures in an emergency situation. The trial court reversed Board's decision and ordered Employee reinstated. Cottonwood appeals. ¹ We reverse the judgment of the trial court and reinstate Board's decision.

Cottonwood is a facility run by the Department of Mental Health ("Department") that works with emotionally disturbed children. The children live at Cottonwood in cottages that house up to eight children. In December 1995, Employee was the cottage supervisor for 13-year-old Alice Canfield who had come to stay at Cottonwood the previous August. Alice had spells where she would inflict bodily harm upon herself by banging her head. On December 6, 1995, Alice was being restrained to prevent her from banging her head upon a desk. While Alice was face down on the floor, Employee held her legs and an assistant pinned Alice's arms underneath her stomach. They had been restraining Alice for over 15 minutes when Alice stopped struggling. They then turned Alice over. Alice was unconscious. Employee noticed that Alice's lips were blue. Employee did not initiate CPR. Employee had been trained to perform CPR and Department regulations required that she perform CPR in such a situation. The assistant told Employee to call the nurse. Employee called the nurse on duty but did not indicate the urgency of the situation. The nurse arrived several minutes after Alice had stopped breathing. Alice went to the hospital where she was placed on life support. The following day life support was removed and she died.

Employee was given an immediate leave of absence and the incident was investigated. On May 29, 1996, Employee was notified by letter that she would be discharged effective June 5, 1996. The stated reason for her discharge was Class I Neglect by failing "to follow facility procedures when during a physical restraint you participated in, a client stopped breathing and had no pulse. Your failure to follow facility policies during this emergency situation requires your dismissal in the interest of efficient administration and for the good of the service."

Board held a full hearing on the case. Employee presented evidence that she failed to respond to the emergency situation because she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ("PTSD") caused by the recent death of her mother. Employee introduced evidence of her dissociative disorder at the hearing. Psychiatrists testified on behalf of Employee and Cottonwood that Employee suffered from PTSD. Dr. Peters, a psychiatrist, testified that if Employee returned to work she would likely have another dissociative episode. He testified that 50% of PTSD sufferers who receive treatment do have a repeat episode. PTSD sufferers also tend to avoid traumatic situations similar to the ones that triggered their dissociative episodes. Because Employee had discontinued treatment and would be exposed to situations at work similar to the one which triggered the prior dissociative episode, Dr. Peters concluded that if Employee returned to work, she would likely suffer another episode.

Board found that Employee had committed Class I Neglect and such conduct was serious enough to warrant dismissal for the good of the service. Employee appealed Board's decision to the circuit court. The trial court reversed.

We review Board's decision, not the circuit court's judgment. McCall v. Goldbaum, 863 S.W.2d 640, 642 (Mo.App.1993). This court may not substitute its judgment of the evidence and may not set aside Board's decision unless it is not supported by competent and...