An Arkansas surgery center has been cleared of wrongdoing after hiring and quickly firing a nurse whom a physician it was trying to recruit disliked.
Nikki Wood, RN, was terminated even before her first day on the job at Outpatient Surgery Center in Mountain Home, Ark., after anesthesiologist Hicham Merheb, MD - whom the center was seeking to hire - refused to join a staff that included her. He allegedly harbored ill feelings toward Ms. Wood after she'd testified against him in a sexual harassment investigation when the two had previously worked together at a local medical center. Ms. Wood had characterized their relationship there as "like oil and water."
The Outpatient Surgery Center admitted to choosing Dr. Merheb over Ms. Wood, according to documents filed in federal court. After her firing, Ms. Wood reluctantly returned to her previous job at a home health agency with no loss of pay or wages.
She sued to be reinstated at the Outpatient Surgery Center, though, and demanded front pay, back pay, lost benefits, attorneys' fees and an injunction prohibiting Dr. Merheb from retaliating against her in the future. She accused the Outpatient Surgery Center of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act, which prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals who have testified or participated in an investigation.
The Outpatient Surgery Center countered that there was no causal link between Ms. Wood's testifying against Dr. Merheb and its decision to fire her.
The court sided with the Outpatient Surgery Center and dismissed the case, ruling that the center's decision to terminate a new hire in favor of a prospective one, and its prioritization of hiring of a doctor over a nurse, was a potentially lucrative business decision that would have been jeopardized by the continued employment of Ms. Wood. "Such a justification for terminating an at-will employee is perfectly legal," the court stated, but conceded it was unfortunate Ms. Wood, "who is by all accounts a skilled nurse, lost her job through no fault of her own."
Attorneys for Ms. Wood and the Outpatient Surgery Center did not respond to requests for comment.
Daniel Cook
