 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hill v. The Christ Hosp.11/20/1998
DOAN, Presiding Judge.
Defendant-appellee, The Christ Hospital ("TCH"), hired plaintiff-appellant, Jacquie F. Hill, on September 14, 1981. In 1989, Richard Seim, an assistant vice-president at TCH, promoted Hill to the position of Director of Central Services. Central Services, a department with about eighty employees, was responsible for cleaning, sterilizing, and distributing surgical supplies. The previous Director of Central Services had been terminated by TCH. As Director of Central Services, Hill reported to Seim. Seim generally gave Hill above-average performance evaluations.
On October 26, 1992, Hill and her husband, Les Hill, filed a medical malpractice suit against TCH for the alleged misdiagnosis of Les Hill's cancer. The lawsuit papers were not served until April 27, 1993, but Jacquie Hill's supervisors at TCH knew about the lawsuit in approximately October 1992.
During the autumn of 1992, TCH conducted an employee survey in several hospital departments, including Central Services. In November 1992, Seim gave Hill a "superior" evaluation, the highest performance evaluation an employee could receive. The superior evaluation was not communicated to Hill until January 26, 1993. At that time, Hill was given a bonus of $1,000. TCH rarely gave such a bonus.
The employee survey results were compiled in February 1993 and published in April 1993. Central Services had the lowest score of all the TCH departments. Employee satisfaction in Central Services was rated 38.5, the lowest score ever achieved by a TCH department. In addition, the surveys contained unfavorable comments directed toward Hill's management.
Hill stated in her deposition that Seim made light of the survey results. Hill stated that Seim told her not to take the survey results personally, but to use them as a baseline to indicate where improvements were needed. Hill stated that Seim told her that he was disappointed with the survey results, but that they would try to work on the problems. Hill also testified that Seim acknowledged that the previous year had been difficult due to an increased workload for Central Services.
Hill and her superiors met to discuss the survey results. Meetings were also held with individuals from TCH's Human Resources Department. Hill stated that she was assured by her superiors that they wanted to "Work things out." HUI stated that Seim and his superior assured her that she did not need to worry about how the Human Resources Department was reacting to the survey resultssHill testified that Seim indicated that Human Resources did not want anyone to lose a job over the survey results.
In April 1993, Seim began to investigate the problem in Central Services. Employees and supervisors were interviewed. The investigation revealed complaints regarding Hill. During the course of the investigation, a flier appeared in Central Services criticizing HUI and urging the unionization of the employees. As the investigation proceeded, employees related instances of Hill's mismanagement and retaliation against certain employees. The investigation uncovered widespread discontent among the employees with respect to Hill's management. Further, the investigation revealed serious leadership problems on the part of Hill and a lack of trust on the part of Hill's managerial staff. Seim stated in his deposition that, with one exception, Hill denied all issues that were raised and essentially refused to modify her behavior. Hill was terminated April 21, 1993.
TCH has created a manual that contains its policies and procedures. Section 28.07.105 of the policy manual provides:
"If a management employee
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ohio Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|