Thomas v. Autumn Woods Residential Health Care Facility

905 F. Supp. 414, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17559, 1995 WL 645951
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedOctober 31, 1995
DocketCiv. A. No. 94-40538
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 905 F. Supp. 414 (Thomas v. Autumn Woods Residential Health Care Facility) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thomas v. Autumn Woods Residential Health Care Facility, 905 F. Supp. 414, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17559, 1995 WL 645951 (E.D. Mich. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

GADOLA, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Rosemarie Thomas, filed a complaint on July 8, 1994, alleging race discrimination in her termination from the Autumn Woods Residential Health Care Facility (“Autumn Woods”). Thomas’ complaint is based on Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Presently before this court is the defendant, Autumn Woods’ motion for summary judgment.

I. Factual Background

On May 11, 1993, Rosemarie Thomas was terminated from her employment with Autumn Woods, a 330-bed licensed and Medicaid/Medicare certified nursing care facility in Warren, Michigan, for unsatisfactory work performance. Thomas was employed as a direct care technician (“DCT” or “nurse aid”) and charged with the responsibility of assisting the residents at Autumn Woods with their daily activities, including feeding, dressing, grooming, changing beds, lifting residents in and out of bed and wheelchairs, and toileting. Thomas was hired on September 28, 1992 and was assigned at her request to the Medicare unit to take care of the residents in need of more intensive nursing care. Thomas requested the 12-hour shift on the “skilled” unit because that was where the most care was required.

At the time Thomas began her employment with Autumn Woods, she received Autumn Woods’ “Manual for Hourly Employees,” containing information on disciplinary action and grounds for discharge, and a detailed job description for DCTs. Thomas also signed acknowledgements that she received these documents and that she read and understood their contents. At her deposition, conducted on August 22,1995, Thomas acknowledged that her job description required her to perform the following duties:

1. To answer patient call lights promptly.
2. To turn off all unnecessary lights.
[417]*4173. To be cooperative with and have respect and obedience toward her superiors, to be prompt and dependable in performing her duties, to be able to follow instructions intelligently and accurately, and to be able to work well with others and understand directions.
4. To take the resident’s vital signs within the first hour of the shift.
5. To make sure that food served to the residents was accessible to them, to wash their hands and faces after eating, and to help them with toileting.
6. To make sure that dirty laundry and linens were removed and promptly taken to the appropriate place and that the residents’ environment was uncluttered, neat and safe.
7. To conduct herself at all times in accordance with the principle that the needs of the patients take precedence over the employees’ needs, and to follow the directions of supervisors, even if she disagreed with them, and to take issue with the supervisor later, or risk disciplinary action.

Thomas also testified at her deposition that from the beginning of her employment at Autumn Woods, she understood that under the terms of the Manual for Hourly Employees, the following actions or omissions could result in disciplinary action up to and including discharge from employment:

1. Failure to follow a written or verbal job description.
2. .Failure to render a personal service to a resident, if the service was in the usual scope of the employee’s duties or required by an emergency.
3. Failure to perform work efficiently.
4. Inattention to duties or wasting time.
5. Poor attendance or tardiness.
6. Deliberate refusal to obey orders or instructions of supervisors during work hours.
7. Failure to follow her schedule as required or refusing to do assignments.
8. Laziness or neglect of a resident, including forgetting to set up a food tray or to feed patients as needed.

As part of its motion for summary judgment, Autumn Woods has submitted eight written reports documenting individual instances in which Thomas violated the duties described above. These reports indicate that Thomas was disciplined for the following violations:

1. 10/31/92. Thomas was instructed to put a resident to bed before going to lunch but responded by stating “I have to go to lunch or they will leave me.” Thomas was written up for failure to follow instructions from the charge nurse.
2. 12/29/92. Thomas failed to take vital signs in a timely manner, showed poor organization of skills, and failed to complete patient baths.
3. 1/26/93. Thomas went on break without answering a patient’s call lights.
4. 2/10/93. A resident for whom Thomas was responsible was found sleeping on a table in the dining room, with her tray still on the food cart.
5. 2/28/93. Thomas failed to pass snacks and claimed to have forgotten them.
6. 4/23/93. Thomas was counseled regarding poor organization and poor approach to residents.
7. 4/26/93. Thomas failed to complete vital signs on residents.

8. 5/7/93. Upset residents for whom Thomas was responsible were found in bed at 11:30 a.m.

Thomas has not denied that these incidents occurred or that they may serve as grounds for discipline under Autumn Wood’s Manual for Hourly Employees. Thomas also has not denied the existence of eighteen additional disciplinary reports detailing her tardiness and absenteeism. Finally, Thomas does not deny that, after several instances of counsel-ling about her organizational skills, Autumn Woods moved her from the 12-hour shift in the skilled unit to an 8-hour shift on a unit for lighter care residents. This change was effective January 29, 1993 and was made in an attempt to help Thomas with her organizational skills and prioritization.

On May 11, 1993, Thomas was terminated based upon her record of repeated poor performance. On July 2, 1993, Thomas filed a [418]*418claim with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (“MDCR”) and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), alleging that she was terminated because of her race. In the Charge of Discrimination, Thomas specifically alleged that a white staff nurse complained about her and that white employees were treated differently. Her allegations were based upon Title VII and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

On January 12, 1994, Thomas’ administrative complaint with the MDCR and the EEOC was dismissed. The Notice of Disposition noted that Thomas had received seven written warnings regarding her work performance problems from seven different charge nurses, black and white. The dismissal also noted that, of the five other DCT’s that were discharged for the same or similar reasons as Thomas, three were black and two were white. The dismissal further described that the white employees who were terminated had two written warnings on their records and the black employees who were discharged had four to five written warnings prior to discharge.

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Bluebook (online)
905 F. Supp. 414, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17559, 1995 WL 645951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-autumn-woods-residential-health-care-facility-mied-1995.