I am amazed by the number of calls we get from doctors, nurses and nursing assistants about retaliation at Kaiser Sacramento, and all around with remarkably similar retaliation complaints and concerns of being written up for no reason or otherwise set up for termination and actually being fired, once they complain about any kind of unsafe practice at a hospital, or some violation of patient care by a doctor or administrative stuff. Many Kaiser employees also struggle to ensure that their work related injury or another type of disability is dealt with properly by the employer under FMLA / ADA, and that the employer doesn’t punish them in one way or the other for filing a workers comp claim, or going on medical leave because of an injury.
Kaiser usually defends claims aggressively and it’s hardly surprising, as the company of that size would not want to set a precedent of giving in easily. In most cases, they want to send a message to other employees who think of suing them that they are not an easy target. Having said that, with the right set of facts – i.e., lengthy career at Kaiser, history of good performance, serious injury and failure to handle an injured employee’s rights correctly can help achieve significant settlements or awards in court or in arbitration. A retaliation and wrongful termination case becomes even stronger when the aggrieved employee manages to prove that the stated reason for firing is petty or altogether fabricated as part of the retaliation campaign.