A veteran perioperative services nurse who alleged that Virginia's Prince William Health System fired her unfairly after she injured her back and could no longer move heavy patients has lost her bid to recoup more than $1.6 million in damages from the hospital system.
Theresa Griffin, RN, who had worked for the system since 1997, suffered a back injury in 2003 that rendered her incapable of lifting more than 40 lbs. The hospital in Manassas, Va., accommodated this restriction of her job duties for more than 7 years. Then in June 2010, hospital administration told Ms. Griffin that it "could no longer accommodate her" and terminated her employment, according to court documents.
In a lawsuit filed in March 2010, Ms. Griffin sued Prince William Health System for more than $1.6 million, claiming that she had been treated unfairly because she was African-American and had a physical disability. According to court documents, the hospital terminated her employment because she didn't supply the required clearance documents from her physician in order to continue working in the perioperative services department. As the case progressed, Ms. Griffin withdrew her claims of racial discrimination but continued with the disability discrimination charges.
Last week, Judge Claude M. Hilton of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., threw out Ms. Griffin's case, ruling that although she couldn't lift more than 40 lbs., the nurse did not suffer a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. "A general restriction on the amount one can lift does not necessarily rise to a level of substantial limitation," wrote the judge.
The judge also agreed with the hospital about its ability to accommodate Ms. Griffin so that she could continue to work as a perioperative nurse. He wrote that no practical accommodation could be made for her in the job of perioperative nurse since moving heavy patients is essential to the job and hiring other nurses to help move patients is not reasonable. Ms. Griffin, wrote the judge, "has not established any facts surrounding her termination that give rise to an inference of unlawful termination."
An attorney for Ms. Griffin did not respond to a request for comment. The attorney for the hospital system said he couldn't comment on the case.
Kent Steinriede
