Sarah M. Block
Wed, 12/20/2023
On December 12, 2023, a California jury agreed that Kaiser Permanente fired neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse Maria Gatchalian in retaliation for raising concerns regarding patient health and safety and awarded her approximately $41.5 million in damages.
Gatchalian was the overseeing charge nurse in the NICU at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA, a position she had held for 13 years of her 30-year tenure with the hospital. She repeatedly raised concerns to her superiors regarding patient health and safety, including but not limited to (1) that a supervisor knew that father of a patient brought a knife into the NICU but did nothing about it, at a minimum putting the NICU staff at risk; (2) that two nurses did not know what kind of catheter to use on a baby in critical condition and failed to ask her for help, resulting in unsafe patient management; (3) that a nurse failed to feed a baby; and (4) that a staff member revealed protected health information to an alleged father whose paternity had not yet been confirmed and who was not allowed to visit the patient’s mother. In retaliation for raising these concerns, Gatchalian’s supervisors began treating her differently than other nurses and began refusing to cooperate with her or provide information that she, as the charge nurse, needed to know. Most significantly, Kaiser took the extreme position of terminating Gatchalian’s employment after seeing photos of her sitting in a recliner during a break with her bare feet touching an isolette, even though this is not typically a fireable offense.
Ultimately, over the employer’s arguments, the jury awarded Gatchalian $1.3 million for past lost wages, $1.2 million for future lost wages, $1.5 million for past mental suffering, $7.5 million for future mental suffering, and $30 million in punitive damages.
Federal and state laws protect employees from unlawful retaliation, including but not limited to retaliation for speaking up about unlawful behavior and various workers’ rights. If you believe you have suffered from workplace discrimination or have otherwise been retaliated against by your employer, contact MSE today through our website to schedule a free consultation with an experienced employment attorney.
