Williamson v. Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Inc.

34 F. Supp. 3d 607, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1080, 2014 WL 3735538, 200 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3257, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102602
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJuly 28, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 3:13-cv-704-JAG
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 34 F. Supp. 3d 607 (Williamson v. Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williamson v. Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Inc., 34 F. Supp. 3d 607, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1080, 2014 WL 3735538, 200 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3257, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102602 (E.D. Va. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN A. GIBNEY, JR., District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. (Dk. No. 33.) The plaintiff, Brandon Williams, alleges that his former employer, Bon Secours, fired him because he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder related to his military service, in violation of both the Americans with Disability Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The record, however, provides no evidence to dispute Bon Secours’ justification for terminating Williamson: that the veteran made repeated terroristic threats against the lives of his supervisors, requiring his [610]*610immediate firing to protect employees and patients. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Bon Secours’ motion for summary judgment.

I. MATERIAL FACTS

Williamson is a United States Army veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury. In August 2011, Williamson applied for an x-ray technician position with Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Inc., and began work there on an “as needed” basis. (Compl. ¶ 16.)1 In November 2011, Williamson applied for a full-time x-ray technician position at St. Francis Family Medicine Center, a Bon Secours subsidiary. (Id.) St. Francis hired Williamson, who began working there in February 2012. In response to Williamson’s struggle with absences and tardiness, his supervisors gave him a written warning during a June 5, 2012 disciplinary meeting. (Pl.’s Opp’n 2.) During that meeting, Williamson told his supervisors that he suffered from PTSD. (Def.’s Supp. 6.)

In July 2012, St. Francis changed Williamson’s work schedule from a consistent, full-time schedule to one that changed every two weeks. (Id. at 8.) On September 10, 2012, Williamson emailed Paul Junod, the Administrative Director of Bon Sec-ours Human Resources, explaining that the inconsistent schedule had affected his mental health. (Id.) In response, Junod asked for a doctor’s note outlining how exactly to schedule Williamson’s work. (Id.) On October 23, 2012, Williamson faxed a note from his doctor to Junod. (PL’s Opp’n 5, at ¶ 19.) The note stated that Williamson was receiving treatment for PTSD and traumatic brain injury, and that, while he could work full time, he would benefit significantly from a routine daily schedule. (Id. at Ex. 11.) Junod and Williamson then tried to set up a meeting to discuss his work, but scheduling problems kept them from meeting immediately.

Before Junod and Williamson could meet, two nurses at St. Francis, Christina Sykes and June Rice, met with the practice supervisor, Sarah Townshend, to report that Williamson had made several threatening statements about the practice and his supervisors. Rice reported that Williamson had told her that (1) he “wanted to kill Maureen [Paisley] because she talked to [him] mean earlier in the week,” and that (2) he “felt like killing Dr. [Jeffrey] Roberts,” another of Williamson’s supervisors, for a “nasty look” Roberts had given him. (Def.’s Supp. 10, at ¶25.) Sykes reported that Williamson had made similar threats about Dr. Roberts and Paisley to her (“you know what you do to your enemies ... you kill them”), and that he had also told her that “this Saturday he was going on top of a tall building,” explaining, “how else are you going to kill people?” (Id.)

Townshend relayed this information to Dr. Roberts and Paisley. (Id. at 11, ¶ 29.) Paisley, in turn, told Williamson’s other supervisor, Shredl, and alerted Junod to those threats. (Id. at 12, ¶¶ 30-31.) After speaking with Paisley, Junod called Williamson, explained the reports, and told him that he would be suspended pending an investigation. (Id. at ¶ 32.) Williamson denied making any threats. (Id.)

Between November 2 and November 5, 2012, Junod collected written statements from nurses Sykes and Rice, as well as two other employees, Julissa Carey and Beverly Rice, who had also reported hearing Williamson make threatening statements [611]*611in the practice. The written statements confirmed what Junod had previously learned.

Sykes reported that three weeks earlier, Williamson entered her office and told her that Dr. Roberts looked at him “like the insurgents did in Iraq, and you know what happens to them!” (Def.’s Supp., Ex. 3.) When Sykes asked him to elaborate, Williamson told her, “I killed them.” (Id.) On another occasion, Williamson told her that “Maureen [Paisley] wrote him up for being-late and you know what you do to your enemies.” (Id.) When Sykes again asked “what?” Williamson explained, “You kill them.” (Id.) Sykes also wrote that on a third occasion, Williamson told her that “this Saturday he was going on top of a tall building.” (Id.) When Sykes asked, ‘Why a tall building?” Williamson replied, “How else are you going to kill people?” (Id.)

June Rice wrote that two weeks earlier, Williamson told her that “Dr. Roberts had given him a nasty look earlier that day and it reminded him of the way one of his enemies in the Military had looked at him and he had to kill him.” (Def.’s Supp., Ex. 4.) Williamson “then proceeded to say that he felt like killing Dr. Roberts for the way that he glared at him.” (Id.) Rice also stated that on the evening of November 1, 2012, Williamson told her, “I wanted to kill Maureen because she talked to me mean earlier in the week.” (Id.) During another encounter, Rice wrote, Williamson told her of a good “dream” he had about her, wherein “... You [June Rice] were the only one who survived after our building blew up.” (Id.) When asked who blew up the building, Williamson told Rice, “I did.” (Id.) Rice also wrote that Williamson was “constantly talking about guns and explosives,” and that “anyone he dislikes, disagrees with him or chastises him is the enemy.” (Id.)

Julissa Carey reported that Williamson “showed [her] new weapons he has [sic] purchased within the last two weeks.” (Def.’s Supp., Ex. 5.) (emphasis added). Carey also stated that Williamson told her “that he will hurt and kill some of the people in government positions,” and that he “advised he made a treat [sic] to harm his last superior in the Army.” (Id.)

Beverly Rice wrote that on one occasion, “Mr. Williamson spoke to me about threat-ing [sic] his Veteran’s hospital therapist and said he could harm her if he wanted too [sic].” (Def.’s Supp., Ex. 6.) Rice also wrote that on another occasion, Williamson approached the front check-in desk and told the employees there, ‘You guys can drink your own urine.” (Id.) When told that those employees didn’t want to hear that, “he continued to say it over.” (Id.)

After Junod received the four written statements, he discussed them with Shredl, as well as Bon Secours’ Vice President for Human Resources and Bon Sec-ours’ in-house counsel. (Pl.’s Opp’n 21-22; Def.’s Supp. 15.) Junod concluded that Williamson was a threat to the safety of Bon Secours’ patients and employees and decided to terminate him, explaining that:

the fundamental way that I do my job, one of the ways I make the decision is patient safety and then employee safety. Those are the first two things I look at. And so when I was brought those statements and brought that, you know, when those came to my attention, I thought employee safety, and made a decision.

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34 F. Supp. 3d 607, 30 Am. Disabilities Cas. (BNA) 1080, 2014 WL 3735538, 200 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3257, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williamson-v-bon-secours-richmond-health-system-inc-vaed-2014.