NurseWeek

Jury finds hospital guilty of retaliation against nurse whistleblower

By Scott Williams
August 5, 2000


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Galveston, Texas. A Galveston County jury decided Aug. 2 that the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston retaliated against an emergency room nurse after she accused the hospital of forcing unwanted medical procedures on patients.

The jury in State District Judge Frank Carmona’s 122nd District Court awarded Stephanie Hohman, RN, $500,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, and $310,000 for legal fees. The jury also found that the other plaintiff, Lisa Lippert Gray, RN, was not subject to retaliation.

Hospital officials likely will appeal the verdict, said Chris Comer, executive director of public affairs for UTMB.

"The charges of inappropriate patient care were reviewed thoroughly by external agencies and there was no evidence of wrongdoing on UTMB’s part, and we maintain there was never any retaliation on our nursing staff," she said.

Hohman, 32, and Gray, 38, accused UTMB, its trauma services director and its former emergency room nursing administrator of retaliation through scheduling changes, bad evaluations, sudden reassignments from night to day shifts and public humiliation in morning or evening reports.

Both nurses quit in November. They filed suit under the state’s whistleblower act.

Gray, who could not be reached for comment the day after the verdict, had said that she hoped the case would allow nurses to better protect their patients. "I want to win because I want this to be a precedent for patients and nurses," she said. "It would be a great case for nurses to be able to point to."

Hohman now is employed as a nurse with the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville, while Gray works as a nurse at Mainland Medical Center in Texas City.