_________
Submitted: September 15, 1992
Filed: November 25, 1992
Paul A. Ryker
Nancy Matthews
Huntington, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellant
Michael J. Farrell
Charlotte A. Hoffman
Jenkins, Fenstermaker, Krieger,
Kayes & Farrell
Huntington, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellee
JUSTICE MILLER delivered the Opinion of the Court.
1. "The rule that an employer has an absolute right to
discharge an at will employee must be tempered by the principle
that where the employer's motivation for the discharge is to
contravene some substantial public policy [principle], then the
employer may be liable to the employee for damages occasioned by
this discharge." Syllabus, Harless v. First National Bank in
Fairmont, 162 W. Va. 116, 246 S.E.2d 270 (1978).
2. To identify the sources of public policy for
purposes of determining whether a retaliatory discharge has
occurred, we look to established precepts in our constitution,
legislative enactments, legislatively approved regulations, and
judicial opinions.
3. Inherent in the term "substantial public policy" is
the concept that the policy will provide specific guidance to a
reasonable person.
4. "When an employee makes a prima facie case of
discrimination, the burden then shifts to the employer to prove a
legitimate, nonpretextual, and nonretaliatory reason for the
discharge. In rebuttal, the employee can then offer evidence that
the employer's proffered reason for the discharge is merely a
pretext for the discriminatory act." Syllabus Point 2, Powell v.
Wyoming Cablevision, Inc., 184 W. Va. 700, 403 S.E.2d 717 (1991).
Miller, Justice:
Deborah Birthisel, the plaintiff below, appeals from an
order of the Circuit Court of Cabell County which granted a motion
for summary judgment to Tri-Cities Health Services Corporation, a
West Virginia corporation, doing business as HCA River Park
Hospital (River Park), the defendant below. The plaintiff filed
this civil action for retaliatory discharge after she was fired for
refusing to make additions to closed patient charts. The plaintiff
now seeks to have us overturn the circuit court's order granting
the motion for summary judgment. We decline to do so.
Ms. Birthisel was hired by River Park in February, 1989, as Assistant Director of Social Services under the supervision of Charles Weinberg, Director of Social Services. The intention of both River Park and Ms. Birthisel, at the time she was hired, was that she would eventually assume Mr. Weinberg's position, as he planned to move into private practice. By the following summer, however, she had been demoted to the position of line staff social worker, apparently because she was not performing her administrative duties adequately. In that position, she continued to be supervised by Mr. Weinberg and by Johanna Lampert.
On Monday, September 25, 1989, Ms. Birthisel and the
other social workers received a memorandum from Mr. Weinberg in
anticipation of an upcoming accreditation visit from a group from
the National Association of Private Psychiatric Hospitals. The
memorandum outlined the steps to be taken to review patient files
as part of the hospital's Quality Assurance Plan.See footnote 1 Primarily, the
review involved what was known as the patient's Master Treatment
Plan.
It appears from the record that the Master Treatment Plan
embodies an historical summary of work done with regard to the
patient at the hospital. This includes the patient's social
history, treatment plan, discharge planning, and the psychological
assessment. The precise delineation of who prepares this data and
its form is not spelled out in the record.
The Quality Assurance Plan utilizes a form to guide the review of a patient's treatment.See footnote 2 The scope of review generally includes a check of the psychosocial assessment, Master Treatment Plan, and discharge planning. The social worker fills out a form based on a review of each of these areas of the patient's file.See footnote 3
After receiving the September 25, 1989 memorandum, Ms.
Birthisel felt compliance with the requests contained in the
memorandum to be unethical and asked Mr. Weinberg for
clarification. Following his explanation, she still found the
request objectionable and refused to comply. Specifically, she
felt that she was being asked to "doctor" the patient charts. She
claimed she could not ethically make any changes to the charts she
had been asked to review because they were closed charts of
patients with whom she had had no contact. She feared that to do
so would be to falsify the records and would constitute a violation
of the West Virginia Social Work Code of Ethics, 25 W. Va. C.S.R.
App. A (1988), which would put her professional social work license
in jeopardy. See footnote 4
Mr. Weinberg testified, in his deposition, that the
social workers were merely being asked to make sure that the
records accurately reflected the course of treatment that the
patient had received. Specifically, they were to check that the
Master Treatment Plan, which was essentially a summary of
treatment, contained the information which was already recorded in
the daily progress notes. Mr. Weinberg further testified that
following his initial discussion with Ms. Birthisel on the matter,
he discussed the memorandum with the head of medical records, who
found no problem with it.
At a staff meeting two days later, Ms. Birthisel informed
Mr. Weinberg that she had reviewed the charts, as requested, but
had not made any changes. She reiterated her position on the
ethical questions she had and asked that it be discussed during the
meeting. Mr. Weinberg declined to discuss the matter further at
the meeting.See footnote 5
Following the meeting, Ms. Birthisel and Mr. Weinberg
further discussed the memorandum. When they were unable to reach
an agreement regarding the ethics of the request, Mr. Weinberg told
Ms. Birthisel that she should discuss the matter with James Sholes,
the hospital's administrator. Mr. Weinberg instructed Ms.
Birthisel not to leave until she had spoken with Mr. Sholes.
Unable to reach Mr. Sholes, Ms. Birthisel left the hospital at
approximately 6:30 p.m.
The next morning, Mr. Weinberg summoned Ms. Birthisel to
his office. He informed her that her job performance was
unsatisfactory and offered her a choice of resigning or being
fired. She chose to resign and tendered her resignation that day.See footnote 6
She vacated her office later that day.
Ms. Birthisel acknowledges that she was an "at-will" employee of River Park, but argues that she is nonetheless protected against this type of discharge under our policy enunciated in the Syllabus of Harless v. First National Bank in Fairmont, 162 W. Va. 116, 246 S.E.2d 270 (1978):
"The rule that an employer has an absolute right to discharge an at will employee must be tempered by the principle that where the employer's motivation for the discharge is to contravene some substantial public policy [principle], then the employer may be liable to the employee for damages occasioned by this discharge."
The question of what constitutes a "substantial public
policy principle" as applied to our retaliatory discharge law is
not subject to a precise answer. It has not been set out in any
Syllabus Point in our retaliatory discharge cases. In Cordle v.
General Hugh Mercer Corp., 174 W. Va. 321, 325, 325 S.E.2d 111, 114
(1984), which involved a retaliatory discharge claim, we quoted
from Allen v. Commercial Casualty & Insurance Co., 131 N.J.L. 475,
478, 37 A.2d 37, 39 (1944), where the court gave these sources of
"public policy":
"'The sources determinative of
public policy are, among others, our federal
and state constitutions, our public statutes,
our judicial decisions, the applicable
principles of the common law, the acknowledged
prevailing concepts of the federal and state
governments relating to and affecting the
safety, health, morals and general welfare of
the people for whom government--with us--is
factually established.'"
Most of our retaliatory discharge cases involve violations of
statutes that we deem to articulate a substantial public policy.
See, e.g., Collins v. Elkay Mining Co., 179 W. Va. 549, 371 S.E.2d
46 (1988) (West Virginia Mine Safety Act, W. Va. Code, 22A-1A-20);
McClung v. Marion County Comm'n, 178 W. Va. 444, 360 S.E.2d 221
(1987) (Wage and Hour Act, W. Va. Code, 21-5C-8); Shanholtz v.
Monongahela Power Co., 165 W. Va. 305, 270 S.E.2d 178 (1980)
(Workers' Compensation Act, W. Va. Code, 23-5A-1); Harless v. First
Nat'l Bank in Fairmont, supra (West Virginia Consumer Credit and
Protection Act, W. Va. Code, 46A-1-101, et seq.).
Other states have attempted to specify what may
constitute sources of public policy in a retaliatory discharge
context. For example, one of the more commonly accepted
definitions is found in Syllabus Point 3 of Parnar v. Americana
Hotels, Inc., 65 Haw. 370, 652 P.2d 625 (1982):
"In determining whether a clear
mandate of public policy is violated, courts
should inquire whether the employer's conduct
contravenes the letter or purpose of a
constitutional, statutory, or regulatory
provision or scheme. Prior judicial decisions
may also establish the relevant public policy.
However, courts should proceed cautiously if
called upon to declare public policy absent
some prior legislative or judicial expression
on the subject."
See also Burk v. K-Mart Corp., 770 P.2d 24 (Okla. 1989); Thompson
v. St. Regis Paper Co., 102 Wash. 2d 219, 685 P.2d 1081 (1984).
In Townsend v. L.W.M. Management, Inc., 64 Md. App. 55,
___, 494 A.2d 239, 242, cert. denied, 304 Md. 300, 498 A.2d 1186
(1985), the Maryland Court of Special Appeals paraphrased the
definition given in Adler v. American Standard Corp., 291 Md. 31,
432 A.2d 464 (1981), as follows:
"It is society's interest upon which
primary focus is required. The source of the
'clear mandate of public policy' may be found
in legislative enactments, prior judicial
decisions and administrative regulations, or
it may be undeclared, in which case, extreme
care must be taken to insure that it is, in
fact, the policy of the State. In any case,
the public policy found must be 'sufficiently
clear to provide the basis for a tort or
contract action for wrongful discharge.'"
(Citations omitted).
A more comprehensive definition was offered by the New
Jersey Supreme Court in Pierce v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp., 84
N.J. 58, __, 417 A.2d 505, 512 (1980):
"We hold that an employee has a
cause of action for wrongful discharge when
the discharge is contrary to a clear mandate
of public policy. The sources of public
policy include legislation; administrative
rules, regulations or decisions; and judicial
decisions. In certain instances, a
professional code of ethics may contain an
expression of public policy. However, not all
such sources express a clear mandate of public
policy. For example, a code of ethics
designed to serve only the interests of a
profession or an administrative regulation
concerned with technical matters probably
would not be sufficient."
Finally, both California and Wisconsin appear to have
adopted more restrictive definitions. Thus, in Gantt v. Sentry
Insurance Co., 1 Cal. 4th 1083, ____, 4 Cal. Rptr. 2d 874, ___, 824
P.2d 680, 687-88 (1992), the California Supreme Court stated that
courts "may not declare public policy without a basis in either the
constitution or statutory provisions." The Wisconsin Supreme Court
in Brockmeyer v. Dun & Bradstreet, 113 Wis. 2d 561, ___, 335 N.W.2d
834, 840 (1983), concluded that "[t]he public policy must be
evidenced by a constitutional or statutory provision."
In addition to considering the sources of public policy
that may protect an employee from a retaliatory discharge, we note
that in Harless we used the phrase "substantial public policy."
This was designed to exclude claims that are based on insubstantial
considerations. The term "substantial public policy" implies that
the policy principle will be clearly recognized simply because it
is substantial. An employer should not be exposed to liability
where a public policy standard is too general to provide any
specific guidance or is so vague that it is subject to different
interpretations. The California Supreme Court in Gantt made this
observation, with which we agree: "The employer is bound, at a
minimum, to know the fundamental public policies of the state and
nation as expressed in their constitutions and statutes[.]" 1 Cal.
4th at ___, 4 Cal. Rptr. 2d at ___, 824 P.2d at 688.
To identify the sources of public policy for purposes of
determining whether a retaliatory discharge has occurred, we look
to established precepts in our constitution, legislative
enactments, legislatively approved regulations,See footnote 7 and judicial
opinions. Inherent in the term "substantial public policy" is the
concept that the policy will provide specific guidance to a
reasonable person.See footnote 8
We also have held, as have other jurisdictions,See footnote 9 that in
a retaliatory discharge case, the employer may defend the discharge
by showing a legitimate, nonpretextual, and nonretaliatory reason
for its action. As we explained in Syllabus Point 2 of Powell v.
Wyoming Cablevision, Inc., 184 W. Va. 700, 403 S.E.2d 717 (1991):
"When an employee makes a prima
facie case of discrimination, the burden then
shifts to the employer to prove a legitimate,
nonpretextual, and nonretaliatory reason for
the discharge. In rebuttal, the employee can
then offer evidence that the employer's
proffered reason for the discharge is merely a
pretext for the discriminatory act."
In this case, the plaintiff contends that the task assigned required her to alter patient records. However, the Quality Assurance plan contained prescribed procedures for review of the Master Treatment Plans. The plaintiff was asked to review the Master Treatment Plans and to identify any missing information. She was then to retrieve such information from the patient files and to insert it in the Master Treatment Plans. There was no requirement that material not in the patient files be obtained or that material already in the files be altered in any manner.
The plaintiff relies on regulations established by the
West Virginia Social Work Board and approved by the legislature.See footnote 10
She also relies on the general policy language contained in the
social workers licensing statute.See footnote 11 Neither of these provisions
contain any specific guidance. Their general admonitions as to the
requirement of good care for patients by social workers do not
constitute the type of substantial and clear public policy on which
a retaliatory discharge claim can be based. If such a general
standard could constitute a substantial public policy, it would
enable a social worker to make a challenge to any type of procedure
that the worker felt violated his or her sense of good service.
A similar problem led the New Jersey Supreme Court in
Pierce v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp., supra, to reject, by way of
a summary judgment, the plaintiff's retaliatory discharge claim.
In Pierce, a physician employed by a pharmaceutical company doing
medical research on drugs was opposed to utilization of saccharin
in a drug formulation because she believed that saccharin might be
harmful. When the physician refused to work on the project, the
company fired her. The court concluded it could not find a clear
violation of any ethical rules governing physicians and made this
comment:
"[A]n employee should not have the right to
prevent his or her employer from pursuing its
business because the employee perceives that a
particular business decision violates the
employee's personal morals, as distinguished
from the recognized code of ethics of the
employee's profession." 84 N.J. at ___, 417
A.2d at 512. (Citation omitted).
The present case also bears some analogy to Lampe v.
Presbyterian Medical Center, 41 Colo. App. 463, 590 P.2d 513
(1978), where the plaintiff was the chief nurse of the hospital's
intensive care unit. She was asked by the hospital administrator
to decrease the number of hours of overtime worked by the nurses in
the unit. She believed that such a reduction would impair the
patients' health care and refused to do so. As a result, she was
fired.
In her retaliatory discharge suit, the nurse asserted
that her actions were based on standards of good nursing care
contained in the legislative declaration of policy in the nurses'
licensing statute. This provision "'declare[d] . . . it to be the
policy of this state that, in order to safeguard life, health,
property, and the public welfare . . . , it is necessary that a
proper regulatory authority be established [for nurses.]'" 41
Colo. App. at ___, 590 P.2d at 515, quoting Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-38-201. A second basis articulated was a regulation which
authorized the discipline of a nurse who "'has negligently or
willfully acted in a manner inconsistent with the health or safety
of persons under her care.'" 41 Colo. App. at ___, 590 P.2d at
515, quoting Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-38-217. The court, in rejecting
the plaintiff's claim that her discharge violated public policy,
stated:
"[T]he plaintiff in this case relies on a
broad, general statement of policy contained
in a statute which creates the State Board of
Nursing and which gives that Board the
authority to discipline a nurse who
negligently or willfully acts in a manner
inconsistent with the health or safety of
persons under her care. Given the general
language used in the statute relied on in this
case, we cannot impute to the General Assembly
an intent to modify the contractual
relationships between hospitals and their
employees in such situations. Neither can we
impute an intent to create a claim for relief
based on a mere possibility of disciplinary
action under § 12-38-217, C.R.S. 1973." 41
Colo. App. at ___, 590 P.2d at 515-16.
Another analogous case is Crockett v. Mid-America Health
Services, 780 S.W.2d 656 (Mo. App. 1989), where the plaintiff was
discharged as director of nursing. She claimed that her discharge
was the result of an adverse report she gave to the Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. The court, without any
extensive discussion, affirmed a summary judgment against the
plaintiff, finding that there had been no "violation of a statute,
constitutional provision or regulation adopted pursuant to a
statute[.]" 780 S.W.2d at 658.
As we have earlier pointed out, the regulations and
statutory language regarding social workers contain no specific
provision relating to a patient's record review. As in Lampe, both
the statute and the regulations relied upon by the plaintiff are
extremely general and do not constitute a specific statement of
public policy. Moreover, when we look to the disciplinary grounds
contained in the social workers' licensing statute, W. Va. Code,
30-30-7, we do not find any direct prohibition against the conduct
requested of the plaintiff in this case.See footnote 12
This is not a case where the plaintiff was asked to
testify falsely in a medical malpractice claim, as occurred in
Sides v. Duke Hospital, 74 N.C. App. 331, 328 S.E.2d 818, review
denied, 314 N.C. 331, 333 S.E.2d 490 and 314 N.C. 331, 335 S.E.2d
13 (1985). There, the public policy violation was the coercion of
false testimony by a threat of loss of job which was consummated
when the plaintiff refused to testify falsely. Nor is it like
Trombetta v. Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Co., 81 Mich. App.
489, 265 N.W.2d 385 (1978), where the employee was discharged for
refusing to alter test results on pollution control reports, where
such alteration constituted a crime.
Here the plaintiff was not asked to falsify the patient
files, but was asked to check each file to determine if information
was missing from the Master Treatment plan. If missing information
could be obtained from the patient file, then it was to be added to
the Master Treatment plan. This activity violated no statute or
regulation.
For the reasons stated, we conclude that the circuit court was correct in granting summary judgment. Accordingly, the judgment of the Circuit Court of Cabell County is affirmed.
Affirmed.
Footnote: 1The memorandum read as follows:
"Debbie/Ron/Julia 10:00 A.M.
9-25
"As you know NAPPH will be here
this Thur/Fri--so we must be caught up and on
target with our work.
"I will be reviewing every active
chart in the hospital, paying particular
attention to [Master Treatment Plans] (being
individualized) and documentation of
discharge planning notes.
"Please recheck your charts and
make any additions/deletions changes
necessary. The purpose of this is not a
witch hunt, but for us all to be ready for
the survey!
"In addition, for [Quality
Assurance], each of you will need to do 10
charts before Thur.
"Ron--any 10 from 4W
"Debbie--any 10 from 2W
"Julia--I will get with you--if you
have time--5 charts from 3W
"I will cover 3W and 5th floor.
"For this month's [Quality
Assurance], do not just note probs, but where
you can--actually make the changes on the
chart.
"This does not mean changing dates, etc. It means if the [Master Treatment Plan] does not have individual strategies, then add them. If a signature is needed on the plan,
go get it!!
"If there are no [discharge]
planning notes, review the chart and add a
final soc-services [discharge] note.
"Any questions, see me. Realize
that these are things we should ALREADY HAVE
BEEN DOING.
Thank you,
Chuck
"P.S. Make sure your active charts have
weekly [discharge] planning notes and
individual [Master Treatment Plans].
THANX!!"
(Emphasis in original).
Footnote: 2The general goal of the Quality Assurance Plan is set out as follows:
"The Social Work Department of HCA
River Park Hospital has an ongoing Quality
Assurance Program designed to objectively and
systematically monitor and evaluate
appropriateness of services; this includes
efforts to identify, assess and resolve
problems which will result in improved
patient services. The major aspects of care
to be monitored include psychosocial
assessments, treatment team planning and
discharge planning."
Footnote: 3The following is the relevant information on the Quality Assurance form for the discharge planning area:
IMPORTANT ASPECT OF CARE/SERVICE: Discharge Planning
INDICATOR: Discharge planning will be a major component and
treatment. The initial discharge plan will be identified in the
psychosocial assessment . . . and will be reviewed weekly for
identification of additional discharge needs, or changes in the
initial discharge plan. Written progress notes are recorded and
discharge planning is evident on the Master Treatment Plan 95% of
the time.
THRESHOLD: 79%
DATE:___________________ UNIT:________________ M.R.#:___________
REVIEWER:_____________________ SOCIAL WORKER:___________________
| CRITERIA |
|
COMMENTS |
||
| YES | NO | N/A | ||
|
1. Was an initial discharge plan included in the psychosocial assessment? |
||||
|
2. Did discharge planning progress notes include: a. Documentation of patient and family involvement |
||||
|
b. Description of discharge plan and current status |
||||
|
c. Identification of obstacles and resolutions |
||||
|
d. Writing in a legibly coherent manner |
||||
| e. Written on a weekly basis | ||||
|
f. Referrals to community services/agencies |
||||
Level of Compliance: 85%
_________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE: All charts will be reviewed upon discharge for
completeness of discharge planning.
DATA SOURCES: Social History, Progress Notes, Treatment Plans
and reviews.
METHODOLOGY: The Director of Social Work Services will collect
raw data from the social work staff each month.
Social workers may be assigned charts for review
by the Director but may not review their own
charts. The Director will collate and evaluate
the aggregate data to identify trends and patterns
and will report findings, conclusions, actions
taken (if indicated) and future recommendations to
the Quality Assurance Committee on a monthly
basis."
Footnote: 4The plaintiff refers to these provisions of the Code of Ethics:
PROPRIETY--The social worker should maintain
high standards of personal conduct in the
capacity or identity as social worker.
COMPETENCE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT--The
social worker should strive to become and
remain proficient in professional practice
and the performance of professional
functions.
INTEGRITY--The social worker should act in
accordance with the highest standards of
professional integrity.
PRIMACY OF CLIENTS' INTERESTS--The social
worker's primary responsibility is to the
clients."
The plaintiff also sought to rely on the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics. However, this Code has not been adopted by the West Virginia Board of Social Work Examiners.
Footnote: 5Apparently, none of the other social workers were troubled by the request and had complied with it.
Footnote: 6We have recognized that a constructive discharge can result where an employee has been forced to resign by improper actions of an employer. See Slack v. Kanawha County Housing & Redev. Auth., ___ W. Va. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (No. 20725 7/9/92).
Footnote: 7W. Va. Code, 29A-1-1, et seq., contains procedures for legislative approval of administrative regulations.
Footnote: 8This is analogous to our rule with regard to liability of public officials for their official acts. We have held that liability attaches where the public official violates clearly established law which would be known to a reasonable official. See State v. Chase Securities, Inc., ___ W. Va. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (No. 20863 11/25/92).
Footnote: 9See, e.g., Phipps v. Clark Oil & Ref. Corp., 408 N.W.2d 569 (Minn. 1987); Thompson v. St. Regis Paper Co., 102 Wash. 2d 219, 685 P.2d 1081 (1984).
Footnote: 10See note 4, supra, for text.
Footnote: 11Plaintiff points to this language in W. Va. Code, 30-30-1:
"The Legislature finds that the
profession of social work profoundly affects
the lives of the people of this state.
"The profession of social work
exists to provide humane and effective social
services to individuals, families, groups,
communities and society in order that social
functioning may be enhanced and the quality
of life improved.
"Social workers are involved with individuals who are hurt, vulnerable and having difficulty in areas of their lives which are extremely sensitive. Failure to help these individuals, whether through incompetence or irresponsibility, is a serious matter. These individual citizens have the potential to be greatly harmed by the services of ill-prepared and incapable persons acting as social workers. The
economic burden of social services which do
not give effective aid is a serious social
problem.
"It is the purpose of this article
to protect the public by setting standards of
qualification, education, training and
experience for those who seek to engage in
the practice of social work and to promote
high standards of professional performance
for those engaged in the profession of social
work."
Footnote: 12W. Va. Code, 30-30-7, provides nine grounds for disciplinary proceedings. Most are inapplicable to this case because they deal with making false statements to the Board on applications, conviction of a felony, mental or physical impairment, or practicing without a license. The two that could relate generally are set out in subsections (3) and (6) of the statute and apply when a social worker:
"(3) Has been grossly negligent or
exhibited unprofessional or unethical conduct
in the practice of social work;
* * *
"(6) Has been found guilty by the
board of unprofessional conduct in accordance
with the rules and regulations promulgated by
the board[.]"