Lorie Brown, Nurse Attorney and Founder of Brown Law Office, P.C. and EmpoweredNurses.org, and Ryan Fox, Indiana Employment Law Attorney with Fox Williams & Sink, discuss employment matters that Nurses might encounter such as discrimination, unlawful termination or retaliation, FLMA, not being compensated when working through your breaks or working overtime. They discuss matters with pre-employment such as drug screens and the importance of being honest on job applications as well as “blackballing”. Employment issues such as being written-up or discipline, suspension, discrimination as well as administrative leave or suspension pending investigation, mandatory overtime, termination, age discrimination.
Anonymous LNCC says
Recently participated in a case where a nurse recently active in the union was fired after more than a decade of exemplary practice and progressive promotions, reported by hospital to the BoN who required a 3-month drug diversion program (all testing negative, “fired” from the program after complete compliance by psychiatry for lack of psych pathology). Hospital called other facility in the area to blackball application there. Allegations of bad practice completely bogus based on my extensive review of clinical records, hospital bad faith bolstered by my review of concurrent disciplinary records for others. Asked to opine on another case, older nurse fired on extremely shaky grounds, history of facility firing older staff; my review makes it look bad for nursing mgmt who engineered this. There are impaired or incompetent nurses out there, no question, but these examples make it clear that LNCs have an ethical responsibility to help the processes to protect nurses from retaliatory or capricious actions that threaten their livelihoods.
LORIE A BROWN, R.N., M.N., J.D. says
Thanks for the valuable comment. So many nurses do not pursue these types of claims and yet they have been wronged.