CA Labor Law: Nurse Wrongfully Terminated for Whistleblowing

Riverside, CA Cynthia has been a registered nurse for 30 years??"she knows her rights and she is a patient care advocate. So when her employer cut staff to increase profits she complained. Then she was wrongfully terminated, which is a violation of the California labor law. “I will always protect the patient, even if it costs me my job,” says Cynthia. “And it did”.

Cynthia was hired three years ago as a full time ER nurse at a rural medical center and was paid hourly. About a year later some personnel changes took place and her hours were cut, to the extent that some weeks she didn’t get any hours. Then in March of 2009 she got a call from her supervisor: all per diem employees were off the schedule until further notice.

“I told her that I was working full time and I was not a per diem employee,” says Cynthia. “To make a long story short, I was off work for about two months??"I came back as a per diem employee but worked full-time until I got my status back but it took two years. I lost all my PTO (paid time off) vacation pay and sick leave. They made it all disappear. I also lost my ER position.

"Then a woman in HR contacted me: she found a folder with my personnel documents and wanted me to identify them??"she was confused because the information was contradictory and she needed to get her record straight with verification from me. When I saw the documents it looked like someone had changed my status and I have no idea why. I can only assume the hospital board was upset that I got hired at this rate of pay rather than per diem status and they proceeded to cover their tracks.

"It looks like my original contract was altered to make it look like I was hired per diem. You can see that dates have been changed and information superimposed onto the contract that says “hired as per diem with no benefits” with several signatures. It is easy to compare my original contract (I have a copy) with this one??"it is quite absurd; I guess they thought I wouldn’t do anything about it.

"I was pulled from ER and put on the acute care ward, but we weren’t busy enough. They were doing a lot of illegal procedures, such as not having a respiratory therapist on the ward, and I complained to the CEO. I also reported problems with staffing to the state department of health licensing, but not before I gave the CEO time to correct any illegal staffing issues. I told him that we could get shut down if we were ever inspected and patients’ lives were at stake. He said they didn’t have the budget to make changes.

"One month later nothing had changed and they continued to hassle me, not giving me enough hours??"some weeks I didn’t get any hours. And they moved me constantly from day shift to night shift. I just wanted to be either on days or nights??"they were trying to shake me loose.

"On Valentines Day I reported them and the state agency came in four days later, unannounced. At this point hospital administration didn’t know that I made the call and to this day they still don’t know for sure, even though I did advise them to make changes. They had one hour to get staffing in place or get shut down so I got a call at home to report to work ASAP and not to ask any questions.

"The investigation noted multiple deficiencies and it went on until the end of April, 2011. A few people said kudos that I called but they continued to make my life hell. Ultimately they wrote me up for ridiculous things such as discussing confidential drug screening with a co-worker. It was three strikes and I was out.

"Finally the administrator read me the riot act: I was only to come in when I was called. Per diem people were working full time and full time people were working part-time. About a week later I had a meeting with the supervisor and CEO and they tried to talk me into resigning because ‘it wasn’t working out’. But I told them to fire me.

"Bottom line: stand up for what you believe is right and work for a reputable place. As a nurse, I have a reputation to uphold and I believe in my profession. I got another job but at a lesser salary; what I really want is my job back in ER. That hospital used to be a good place to work before corrupt people took over and placed profits over patients.

"I called the labor board the day I was fired and they sent me a package to fill out. I haven’t got any further with them because they are backlogged. Then an attorney from LawyersandSettlements called and I filled out the preliminary paperwork last week.

"My husband and I moved to this rural town to eventually retire but losing my position and taking my benefits away has turned our lives upside down and I don’t think I can retire anytime soon. I believe that I should be compensated for about half my income and my attorney believes so too.”