Fired Kaiser nurse spoke up for patient safety, lawsuit says. Now she’s awarded $41M

Julia Marnin
·3 min read
4

A nurse’s 30-year career at a Los Angeles Kaiser Permanente hospital ended when she was fired after speaking up about patient safety and quality of care concerns, according to a lawsuit.

Nearly two years after her firing in June 2019, Maria Gatchalian sued Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. for wrongful termination.

Now, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury has sided with Gatchalian — finding Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center fired her in retaliation, the deRubertis Law Firm, which represents Gatachlian, announced in a Dec. 12 news release.

A jury has awarded Gatchalian $11.49 million in compensatory damages, including $9 million for emotional distress, and $30 million in punitive damages — totaling more than $41 million, according to the jurors’ verdict forms.

“Maria had the courage to speak up about patient safety but Kaiser tried to silence her,” David deRubertis, Gatchalian’s lead trial attorney based in Beverly Hills, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente plans to appeal the jury’s decision, Murtaza Sanwari, the senior vice president and area manager of Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills/West Ventura County, told McClatchy News in a statement on Dec. 14.

“The allegations in this lawsuit are at odds with the facts we showed in the courtroom,” Sanwari said.

Concerns about safety, harassment and understaffing

Kaiser hired Gatchalian, who was 63 when she filed her lawsuit, as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse in February 1989, according to her lawsuit.

At the time of her firing, she was the NICU charge nurse after her promotion to the position in February 2006, a complaint says.

In 2017, Gatchalian learned a patient’s father had a knife with him when he visited the hospital’s NICU and that her supervisor was aware of it but didn’t alert staff, according to the complaint.

After Gatchalian brought this to the attention of the NICU director and the hospital’s union president, her supervisor began to “routinely harass, micro-manage, retaliate, and intimidate” her, the complaint says.

Gatchalian also became concerned about the NICU’s lack of staffing “in addition to (her supervisor’s) harassment,” according to the complaint.

As she repeatedly spoke out about patient safety and care concerns, particularly due to understaffing, the hospital’s management “discouraged” her from making formal complaints, the news release said.

At trial, Gatchalian’s lawyers argued Kaiser didn’t want her to make formal complaints because an investigation could follow and potentially highlight understaffing issues, according to the news release.

During court proceedings, different witnesses testified about staffing issues at the Woodland Hills hospital, the news release said.

In October, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees nationwide went on strike over understaffing and pay, The Associated Press reported.

Medical workers and supporters hold signs as they protest outside a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco on Oct. 4, 2023. Some 75,000 Kaiser Permanente hospital employees who say understaffing is hurting patient care walked off the job in five states and the District of Columbia, kicking off a major health care worker strike.
Medical workers and supporters hold signs as they protest outside a Kaiser Permanente facility in San Francisco on Oct. 4, 2023. Some 75,000 Kaiser Permanente hospital employees who say understaffing is hurting patient care walked off the job in five states and the District of Columbia, kicking off a major health care worker strike.

Kaiser contends nurse fired over policy violation

In 2019, Kaiser used a “false” pretext for firing Gatchalian, according to her lawsuit.

In April of that year, Gatchalian’s feet were seen resting on an isolette, an incubator that protects newborn babies from germs, according to the complaint.

This was the reason given for her firing, the complaint says.

However, Gatchalian maintains her termination was for different reasons, including for “retaliatory purposes,” according to the complaint.

Sanwari told McClatchy News that Gatchalian’s position as charge nurse “was to be a leader for other nurses, ensure the standards of care were followed and to protect the neonatal babies entrusted to our care.”

“She was found sitting in a recliner in the neonatal intensive care unit, on her personal phone and resting her bare feet on an isolette with a neonatal infant inside,” Sanwari said.

This “may have created risk to the infant which could have been life threatening,” Sanwari added. “Her actions were egregious and in violation of our infection control policies and standards.”

“We stand by her termination and are surprised and disappointed in the verdict,” Sanwari said.

According to her attorneys, the isolette incident was Gatchalian’s only violation of hospital policy in her yearslong career.

In regards to the jury’s verdict, deRubertis said “this diligent jury spoke in a loud and clear voice telling Kaiser that it needs to put patients over profits.”

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