Posted on 10/14/2006 9:06:17 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
OCALA, Fla. -- A new lawsuit accuses Ocala Regional Medical Center of harassing a quadriplegic employee.
Switchboard operator David Eric Darley, who is a quadriplegic, is suing the hospital and his immediate supervisor, claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The hospital says his claims have no merit and it will fight the accusations in court.
Darley claims his supervisor repeatedly requested he work five consecutive days even when Darley told her that he could only work two consecutive days due to medical implications to his neck and jaw muscles. He uses a mouth stick to push buttons and keys in performing job tasks.
In June 2004, after telling management he would bring a service dog to work, they allegedly began harassing him and moved him to another building.
The lawsuit claims the building did not have a handicap accessible restroom and the ramp Darley used to enter and exit the building was used by dump trucks and delivery trucks carrying supplies or bodies from the morgue.
A service dog in a HOSPITAL? They can't keep phlebitis and staph under control right now! ADA is getting a bit nuts.
There must be more to this story.
I agree. A hospital with no access for wheelchairs.
Even if the hospital is "in the right",legally speaking,this case is bad news for them,public relations-wise.
No, he was moved to an 'out' building with 'allegedly' no ADA access. (which I doubt)
You 'worked' at a full fledged HOSPITAL. You know with SICK PEOPLE and where OPERATIONS are performed. That means NO DOGS, nimrod. So they HAD to move you to an 'out' building'.
Ocala Regional Medical Center
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So sorry bud, you lose. Take your SS Disability money and stay home.
I don't know about the dog being a problem - hospitals are starting to bring in "therapy dogs" for patients to pet and spend time with - it is calming and lowers blood pressure.
This man and his dog aren't in direct contact with the patients and people are a lot more likely to get sick from people germs than dog germs anyway.
Mrs VS
The dog IF it was actually a service dog {lot's of persons like to call their pets such} would be no problem even in a hospital. Like a poster said they bring dogs into visit. But the dog must be sociable toward people. I think seeing eye dogs are allowed as well and of course police K-9.
Could be somebody seeking a reason to sue. Unfortunately the poorly written ADA leaves many in the private business sector open for abuse. I wonder if he was unable to handle the switchboard and was moved to another job he didn't care that much about? A hospital switchboard can be very stressful especially under emergency situations as the operator becomes the emergency messenger and agency coordinator in many cases. Storms and power failures are worse because every alarm that is an alarm goes off.
IOW if a fire alarm goes off the operator will be dealing on the phone with the Fire Department, an alarm company, and on the radio with building maintenance, and others all at the same time passing info. With a good operator things go smooth with one not ready for it it's a nightmare.
Add to this the person is going to be doing patient info look ups, doctor pages, etc. In short I don't see how a quad could manage it unless it was a multi-operator switchboard. I've seen operators I worked with in a nursing home/retirement center try to deal with it. We were a single operator set up and it got pretty hectic. A night with the wrong operator on duty and I really had problems.
I think there's more to it that this also. He may have not been able to handle the job. It's a high stress job actually unless it's late at night.
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