CASE FACTS: Trudy Zorn was employed by East Jefferson General Hospital (EJGH) as a patient access representative in the cardiopulmonary department. She was hired as a secretary on April 1, 1985. In 1997, she was reclassified as an office assistant and then promoted to patient access representative. Her direct supervisor from 1994 to 1998 was Audie Hymel, administrative director of cardiopulmonary services. Zorn was also supervised by Ann Bourgeois. In July 1998, Helen Midkiff, supervisor of the Jefferson Pulmonary Association, became her direct supervisor. In 1999, Midkiff appointed Zorn and two others as “lead staff” on a rotating basis. Each week, one of the “lead staff” members would keep track of the scheduling and clerical operations of the office and fill out a “Shift Summary” sheet. Zorn was the “lead staff” member for the week of April 26 to 30, 1999. On April 30, 1999, Zorn placed a memo in Midkiff’s mailbox referencing “Time Sheet Falsification.” She accused the other two staff members of falsifying their hospital payroll records by not accounting for tardiness and breaks. Zorn attached copies of their time sheets to the memo. The time sheets were for the payroll period from April 11, 1999, to April 24, 1999, and were signed by the employee and Midkiff. Midkiff received a memo with the attached time sheets. Consequently, the other two “lead staff” personnel were questioned. Both claimed that they “made up” their time by “working late.” On May 4, 1999, Zorn was notified that she was fired! Zorn brought suit against EJGH and those involved in her firing. The Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court dismissed all of Zorn’s claims. Zorn appealed.
COURT’S OPINION: The Circuit Court of Appeal of Louisiana affirmed the judgment of the lower court. The court held, inter alia, that the trial court did not err when it held that the public pay documents were hospital records, and therefore, Zorn had violated hospital policy and the law by copying records. Editor’s Note: The case facts indicated that the trial court dismissed all of Zorn’s claims except for the whistle blower claim filed under state law. The court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the whistle blower claim finding that at least a question of fact remained, which precluded the granting of summary judgment. Zorn had previously reported discrepancies and had not been terminated The court concluded that Zorn was not terminated for reporting the discrepancy but for copying hospital’s files without authorization. Zorn v. Jefferson Parish Hospital Service Dist., 2005 WL 711841 So.2d -LA
