Babb v. Maryville Anesthesiologists, P.C.

361 F. Supp. 3d 762
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 16, 2019
DocketNo. 3:17-cv-242
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 361 F. Supp. 3d 762 (Babb v. Maryville Anesthesiologists, P.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Babb v. Maryville Anesthesiologists, P.C., 361 F. Supp. 3d 762 (E.D. Tenn. 2019).

Opinion

Thomas W. Phillips, SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*766Plaintiff Paula E. Babb worked as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist ("CRNA") for defendant Maryville Anesthesiologists, P.C. ("Maryville Anesthesiologists"), a medical practice group that provides anesthesiology services to Blount Memorial Hospital (the "Hospital") in Blount County, Tennessee. Plaintiff claims that Maryville Anesthesiologists regarded her as disabled due to a vision impairment and terminated her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 (2009). The defendant claims that plaintiff was terminated for legitimate non-discriminatory reasons, namely, that she made serious clinical errors such that she could not provide safe and appropriate patient care.

Maryville Anesthesiologists has filed a motion for summary judgment [Doc. 14], with supporting briefs and materials [Docs. 15, 18, 19, 26], and plaintiff has responded in opposition [Doc. 24]. For the reasons set forth herein, the defendant's motion [Doc. 14] will be GRANTED .

I. Relevant Facts

Maryville Anesthesiologists provides anesthesiology services to the Hospital in operating rooms and ambulatory surgery centers [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 3]. Plaintiff began working as a CRNA with Maryville Anesthesiologists around June 2, 2015 [Doc. 15-1 at p. 6].

CRNAs with Maryville Anesthesiologists perform a variety of critical duties including: conducting pre-anesthesia assessments; administering pre-anesthetic medication; administering general and regional anesthesia ; performing sedation techniques; conducting invasive and non-invasive monitoring of patient conditions such as heart rate, pulse, heart rhythm, and oxygen; administering airway management techniques, such as intubation and managing ventilation while the patient is paralyzed; monitoring fluid, electrolyte and acid-base levels; monitoring blood loss and pressures; providing acute and chronic pain therapy; and providing post-anesthesia care [Doc. 15-1 at pp. 2-5]. CRNAs perform many of these tasks independently and exercise discretion in performing many of these tasks [Id. at p. 5].

Within a few weeks of plaintiff's employment with Maryville Anesthesiologists, Dr. Cheryl Coleman, one of the group's physician-owners, observed plaintiff placing her face very close to a computer screen when looking at it [Doc. 15-4 at ¶¶ 2-3]. Dr. Coleman mentioned her observation and plaintiff responded by stating that she had a degenerative retinal condition and that she would be blind in ten years [Id. at ¶ 3].1 Dr. Coleman asked plaintiff to "let us know when she reached the point that she could not function" [Id. ]. Dr. Coleman reported her concern and her conversation with plaintiff to Dr. Candace Robertson, who was then the chair of the personnel committee for Maryville Anesthesiologists [Doc. 15-2 at p. 22]. Dr. Robertson thereafter monitored plaintiff more closely when she was placing a patient under anesthesia or bringing a patient out of anesthesia [Id. at p. 23].

In late October 2015, two other physicians reported concerns about plaintiff's performance to Dr. Robertson. On October *76725, 2015, Dr. Gaelan Luhn sent an e-mail to Dr. Robertson describing a comment from plaintiff that she could not read a record of a patient's anesthesia history - "I can't read that" [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 5, p. 4]. Dr. Luhn did not follow up on plaintiff's comment because the morning surgery schedule was very busy [Id. ].

On October 28, 2015, Dr. Daniela Apostoaei sent a memo to Dr. Robertson describing two occasions when plaintiff responded to questions about whether pre-operative blood results were within normal limits by stating, "I cannot see that" [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 6, p. 5]. Dr. Apostoaei was concerned that plaintiff "did not take any further necessary steps to ensure that those blood work results where [sic] acceptable before proceeding with surgery" [Doc. 15-11 at p. 5]. Dr. Apostoaei also advised that two nurses reported that plaintiff "does not appear to see the monitor to document the vitals" [Id. ].2 Plaintiff admits that she was unable to read the patient record, but she claims that Dr. Apostoaei asked her for the exact readings from the blood work, not simply whether the results were within normal limits [Doc. 24-3 at ¶ 14]. According to plaintiff, she responded that she did not recall the exact number, not that she could not see it. She further claims she had already confirmed the blood work results were within an acceptable range before proceeding with surgery [Id. ].

On October 30, 2015, Dr. Robertson and another physician, Dr. Wilma Proffitt, met with plaintiff and described the concerns that had been expressed regarding her ability to read records and monitors [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 7]. They emphasized that these issues - reading records and monitors - impacted patient care and safety [Doc. 15-11 at p. 6]. Plaintiff responded that she felt her vision was stable and that she could perform her job duties [Id. ]. She commented that she had known about her eye condition for about ten years and that she was followed by an ophthalmologist in Chattanooga [Id. ]. Plaintiff also stated that she had disability insurance [Doc. 15-11 at p. 6]. The doctors instructed plaintiff to ask for help with any record she could not read [Id. ]. Drs. Robertson and Proffitt asked plaintiff to follow up with her ophthalmologist and provide them with "an objective assessment of her vision," which she agreed to do [Doc. 15-11 at p. 6].3 However, plaintiff never provided her employer with a report from her ophthalmologist or any other treatment provider [Doc. 24-1 at pp. 64-65].

Several CRNAs testified that it was "common knowledge" that plaintiff had issues with her vision [Doc. 15-3 at ¶ 7; Doc. 15-5 at ¶ 3; Doc. 15-13 at ¶ 3]. There is evidence that other CRNAs and Hospital staff expressed concerns over plaintiff's ability to read monitors and patient records and some of those concerns were relayed to the physicians [Doc. 15-6 at ¶ 3; Doc. 15-10 at ¶¶ 7-8; Doc. 15-12 at ¶ 4]. Two of the Hospital's surgeons requested that plaintiff not work in their operating room due to concerns about her vision [Doc. 15-2 at p. 30].

On January 2, 2016, Dr. Proffitt sent Dr. Robertson an e-mail describing concerns from operating room staff that plaintiff could not see and read the monitors [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 9, p. 7]. Dr. Proffitt also described an incident involving a patient on a *768fracture table in which the patient began to wake up too soon and moved, thus almost causing the patient to fall from the table [Doc. 15-10 at ¶¶ 4-5; Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 10, p. 7]. A fracture table is thin, narrow operating table that allows the surgeon to stand very close to the affected area [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 10]. Because the fracture table is so thin, safety protocols require that the patient remain asleep until transferred off of the table [Doc. 15-11 at ¶ 10]. Plaintiff admits that the patient in question did move; fortunately, other staff members reacted and prevented the patient from falling [Doc.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fuentes Reyes v. Wolf
D. Nevada, 2020
Paula Babb v. Maryville Anesthesiologists, P.C.
942 F.3d 308 (Sixth Circuit, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
361 F. Supp. 3d 762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/babb-v-maryville-anesthesiologists-pc-tned-2019.