District Court fails to dismiss the plaintiff's wrongful termination claim, relying on the public policy found in the Nursing Home Administrators License Act.

The plaintiff filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against his former employer following his termination as a nursing home administrator. As the nursing home administrator, the plaintiff was responsible for the overall management of the facility and ensuring the health care and safety of its residents. Two weeks prior to the plaintiff's termination, he wrote a letter to his employer's chief operating officer reporting an incident that two boilers were intentionally sabotaged and caused a gas leak and reporting other incidents of vandalism, theft and employee violence. The plaintiff's letter also expressed a concern for the safety of the nursing home residents and employees and requested that his proposal for additional security measures, including security cameras, be considered by the employer. Based on the foregoing, the plaintiff alleged that he was properly carrying out his statutory duties in writing the letter and was fired in retaliation for making the report. In rejecting the employer's motion to dismiss, the court reasoned that the employer is statutorily required to hire a licensed, registered administrator, who is responsible for the overall management of the facility. In addition, the administrator was required to develop policies that provide a high level of resident care in a safe environment, required to evaluate the quality of resident care (including identifying strengths and weaknesses) and to institute appropriate follow-up activities. Moreover, the administrator was required to maintain open lines of communication with the governing body to assure that resources are properly allocated and that resident care is maintained at a high level. As a result, the plaintiff had "an affirmative duty to ensure the safety of the residents and employees of the nursing home" and that "[w]hile an internal complaint to an employer generally will not suffice for a wrongful discharge claim, we are satisfied that under the circumstances present here, where an individual has a statutory duty to ensure the safety of others, it would contravene the public policy of this Commonwealth to deny Plaintiff the right to pursue his claim for wrongful discharge."

Case Law Alert - 4th Qtr 2011