Kaiser had reason to fire nurse who claimed she was advocating for patients, jury rules

A registered nurse who accused Kaiser Permanente Fresno of firing her for being an outspoken advocate for patient care lost her wrongful termination and retaliation lawsuit against one of the nation’s largest health providers.

The jury deliberated about eight hours hours over two days in Fresno County Superior Court before finding Ani Sanikian had violated hospital policy when she viewed the records of three hospital patients. Kaiser had contended she did not have “a business need” to view them.

But the jury of seven men and five women also said Kaiser’s investigation of Sanikan that led to her termination in May 2015 was not done in good faith.

In the end, jurors said Sanikian’s complaints about patient care were not a substantial reason for Kaiser to fire her. Because Kaiser was found to be not liable, jurors never had to address damages.

Sanikian cried when the verdict was announced. She left the courtroom in tears. Her attorney, Mick Marderosian, though disappointed, said: “I respect the jury’s decision.”

Debbie Hemker, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente Fresno, said in a statement: “We are satisfied with the jury’s verdict and we appreciate their time and dedication.”

Sanikian, 46, of Fresno, worked in Kaiser’s Pain and Spine Clinic for 12 years before she was fired. She testified her termination inflicted mental stress and on her and her family.

She sued The Permanente Medical Group, a multibillion-dollar corporation of physicians who provide services to more than 11 million Kaiser Permanente members nationwide, including in Northern and Central California.

During a three-week trial, Fresno lawyers David McNamara and Christina Tillman, who represent the medical group, known as TPMG, said Sanikian was fired because she looked at the medical files of three patients without authorization. The three patients were Kaiser employees who were receiving care in the Pain and Spine Clinic.

Sanikian testified she had the right to look at the files to ensure the three patients received proper medical care since the clinic administers addictive opioid medication. She also testified her supervisors “ambushed” her with the allegations.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Sanikian’s lawyers Marderosian and Heather Cohen contended she was fired on trumped-up charges because she was an outspoken advocate for patient safety. Marderosian described to the jury a more sinister plot – that Kaiser used vague hospital policies and confidentiality laws to silence a nurse in order to prevent liability from patients.

“This organization’s arrogance reaches far and reaches deep,” Marderosian said, saying the evidence showed Sanikian’s supervisors planned to fire her a month before her termination letter and while the investigation was underway.

“That’s offensive,” McNamara said of Marderosian’s assertion. He said Kaiser did a thorough, independent investigation before firing Sanikian on May 12, 2015. He said TPMG doesn’t want nurses whose curiosity is more important “than a patient’s right to confidentiality.”

In his argument, McNamara described Sanikian as a hard-headed nurse who rejected constructive criticism from coworkers, hid behind patient advocacy to skirt hospital rules, and never accepted responsibility for her actions.

In looking at the files, he said, Sanikian either believed “the rules don’t apply to her or she’s nosy.”

Sanikian, who is married with two children, began her medical career as a licensed vocational nurse at 19. She began working for Kaiser in 2003. When she was fired, she was making about $75 an hour, or about $95,000 a year, plus health and vacation benefits, as well as a retirement fund, she told the jury. (She said she now works for Urology Associates of Central California, making about $39 an hour, or $64,000 a year, without benefits or a retirement fund.)

The trial in Judge Jeffrey Hamilton’s courtroom turned into a she said-she said fight because Kaiser senior compliance consultant Suzy Joy, who investigated Sanikian, never recorded Sanikian’s two interviews or the interviews of her two accusers – registered nurses Janis Dirkes and Kathy Foster, who worked with Sanikian in the Pain and Spine Clinic.

This story was originally published August 31, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Kaiser had reason to fire nurse who claimed she was advocating for patients, jury rules."