Stanley v. Our Lady of Bellefonte Hosp., Inc.
| Decision Date | 20 September 2012 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-110-DLB |
| Parties | JASON C. STANLEY PLAINTIFF v. OUR LADY OF BELLEFONTE HOSPITAL, INC., ET AL DEFENDANTS |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky |
This is an action for disability discrimination in employment under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12111, et seq. ("ADA"). By his First Amended Complaint (Doc. # 17), Plaintiff Jason Stanley alleges that Defendants Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Inc. ("Defendant Hospital"), Bon Secours, Inc., Bon Secours Health System, Inc., Bon Secours Kentucky Health System, Inc. (collectively "the Corporate Defendants"), Jeanni Thomas, Netti Damron, Joyce Menshouse, Kim Bellew, Jennifer Moore, and Judy Daniels (collectively "the Individual Defendants") wrongfully terminated his employment as a nurse at Defendant Hospital in Ashland, Kentucky, based on the unsubstantiated belief that he had attempted to steal and use medication from the Hospital, all in violation of the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and Kentucky common law. (See Doc. # 17). Plaintiff further alleges that Defendants subsequently filed a baseless complaint against his nursing license in an effort to destroy his nursing career, in violation of several state laws. (Id. at ¶ 1). The Court has federal question jurisdiction overPlaintiff's federal claims, and supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state claims.
This matter is currently before the Court on the Motion To Dismiss Complaint (Doc. #9) filed herein by all Defendants except Defendants Moore and Daniels (collectively "the Original Defendants") , the Motion To Dismiss Amended Complaint In Part (Doc. # 26) filed herein by Defendants Moore and Daniels , and Plaintiff's Motion For Leave To File A Second Amended Complaint (Doc. # 45)(fully briefed - see Doc. # 47). All motions are now ripe for review. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motions To Dismiss (Docs. # 9, 26) are granted in part and denied in part, and Plaintiff's Motion For Leave To File A Second Amended Complaint (Doc. # 45) is denied.
Plaintiff Jason Stanley was hired as an at-will registered nurse in approximately 2005 by Defendant Hospital in Ashland, Kentucky. At the time he was hired, Plaintiff informed Defendant Hospital that he was a recovering drug addict, and he enrolled in a rehabilitation program known as the Kentucky Alternative Recovery Effort ("KARE"). As a term of his employment, Plaintiff agreed to regularly apprise Defendant Hospital of his progress in KARE. During his employment, Plaintiff not only complied with this reporting requirement, but passed every drug test administered to him.
Then, on October 9, 2010, Plaintiff was involved in an incident that led to his termination. On that day, Plaintiff arrived at work before his shift began and attempted to throw away trash from his car in a medication room in the Hospital. Plaintiff entered theroom using a Hospital-issued key card and inserted his trash into a biohazard container inside. As he was doing so, a fellow nurse, Defendant Kim Bellew, entered the room. Plaintiff greeted her and left the room. According to Plaintiff, he had been in the room for a total of thirty to forty-five seconds.
Bellew then contacted Paula Walters and Defendant Joyce Menshouse, both Nurse Managers at Defendant Hospital, and reported her encounter with Plaintiff. Bellew later drafted a written statement implying that Plaintiff had been using illegal drugs in the medication room. As Plaintiff began his shift on October 9, 2010, Menshouse, flanked by security guards, confronted Plaintiff, required that he submit to a drug test, and suspended his employment pending the results.
On October 14, 2010, Plaintiff e-mailed Paula Walters and asked when he could return to work. Walters then set up a meeting between Plaintiff and Menshouse for October 18, 2010. At the meeting, Menshouse informed Plaintiff that he had passed the drug screen and that an internal investigation revealed that no medication was missing from the Hospital. Nevertheless, Menshouse terminated Plaintiff's employment for "being in an unauthorized area of the hospital." (Doc. # 17, ¶ 61). According to Plaintiff, his termination was based in part upon a discussion between three of his supervisors at Defendant Hospital: Defendants Jennifer Moore, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Judy Daniels, Vice President of Human Resources, and Jeanni Thomas, Director of Nursing.
Although Plaintiff was subsequently awarded unemployment compensation benefits, Defendant Hospital chose to appeal his compensation award. During a hearing on the matter, the Hearing Officer asked Defendant Thomas to identify a code of conduct inDefendant Hospital's Employee Handbook that justified the Hospital's decision to fire Plaintiff for a first offense. Since "being in an unauthorized area" was not an offense in the Handbook, Thomas searched the Handbook for several minutes before responding that Plaintiff had been terminated for loitering. According to the Handbook, a first offense of loitering merits a verbal warning. At some point in the Hearing, Thomas allegedly admitted to the Hearing Officer that she discharged Plaintiff because she suspected that he had attempted to inject himself with illegal drugs using a syringe. Ultimately, the Hospital's appeal was denied.
In February of 2011, a former colleague telephoned Plaintiff and told him that his Kentucky nursing license was under investigation according to the Kentucky Board of Nursing's ("the Board") website. Plaintiff later learned that Defendant Thomas had submitted a complaint to the Board implying Plaintiff had been discharged because the Hospital suspected him of trying to access illegal drugs from the medication room. Although the Board later dismissed the complaint due to insufficient evidence, the Board shared the complaint with several professional associations of nurses, and the complaint (along with all related records) has allegedly been made available to the public pursuant to the Kentucky Open Records Act. In addition to publishing the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants spread false rumors to his former co-workers about his termination and suspected drug use.
Plaintiff initiated the instant action with the filing of a Complaint on October 14, 2011. (See Doc. # 1). After the Original Defendants filed a Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 9), Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint naming Jennifer Moore and Judy Daniels (both Hospital administrators) as additional Defendants, and asserting twelve counts as follows: disabilitydiscrimination in employment in violation of the ADA, against all Defendants except Bellew (Count I); disability discrimination in employment in violation of the Rehabilitation Act, against all Defendants except Bellew (Count II); wrongful termination in violation of public policy against the Corporate Defendants (Count III); breach of contract against the Corporate Defendants (Count IV); promissory estoppel against the Corporate Defendants (Count V); intentional interference with an employment contract/relationship between Plaintiff and the Corporate Defendants against the Individual Defendants (Count VI); negligent hiring, retention, and supervision against all Defendants except Bellew (Count VII); intentional interference with a business relationship between Plaintiff and the Kentucky Board of Nursing against Defendant Thomas and the Corporate Defendants (Count VIII); defamation against Defendant Thomas, Defendant Bellew, and the Corporate Defendants (Count IX); intentional infliction of emotional distress against all Defendants (Count X); negligence against all Defendants (Count XI), and false light against all Defendants (Count XII). Plaintiff also filed a Response To Defendants' Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 20), and the Original Defendants filed a Reply (Doc. # 22).
In their Reply (Doc. # 22), the Original Defendants largely concede that Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint moots their challenge to Count VI (intentional interference with an employment contract/relationship), Count VIII (intentional interference with a business relationship), and Count IX (defamation) of that Complaint. (See Doc. # 22, pp. 2-3). However, the Original Defendants still move the Court to dismiss Count I (disability discrimination under the ADA) and Count II (disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act) as to Defendants Thomas, Damron, and Menshouse, as well as Count III (wrongful termination in violation of public policy), Count VII (negligent hiring, retention,and supervision), Count X (intentional infliction of emotional distress), and Count XI (negligence). (See Doc. # 22, p. 3).
Newly-added Defendants Moore and Daniels have filed a separate Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 26), joining in the Original Defendants' Motion To Dismiss (Doc. # 9) as to Count I (disability discrimination under the ADA), Count II (disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act), Count VII (negligent hiring, retention, and supervision), Count X (intentional infliction of emotional distress), and Count XI (negligence) of the First Amended Complaint. Defendants Moore and Daniels further move the Court to dismiss Count VI (intentional interference with an employment contract/relationship), Count VII (negligent hiring, retention, and/or supervision), and Count XII (false light) as barred by the statute of limitations as to said Defendants.
Plaintiff has also filed the instant Motion For Leave To File A Second Amended Complaint (Doc. # 45) for the sole purpose of bolstering the false light claims attacked by Defendants Moore and Daniels in their Reply (Doc. # 43).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires only a ...
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