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August 28, 2015

Employee disciplined for failure to follow employer's policy


Employee disciplined for failure to follow employer's policy
OATH Index No. 1051/15

An ultrasound technologist was charged with failing to properly identify a patient and performing an ultrasound test on the wrong on the patient.

OATH Administrative Law Judge Kevin F. Casey sustained the charges. Evidence showed that the technician did not follow hospital policy for identifying patients, which requires using two methods to verify a patient's identity, and as a result performed an ultrasound on the wrong patient.

The technician realized his mistake after the examination had been completed and reported it to his supervisor.

That no one was injured and the mistake was immediately reported was outweighed by the technician's record of poor performance.

The ALJ concluded that a hospital does not have to wait for a patient to be injured before taking disciplinary action and recommended the termination of the employee.  

The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://archive.citylaw.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/oath/15_cases/15-1051.pdf

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The Discipline Book -- A 448 page e-book focusing on disciplinary actions involving State, municipal and school district officers and employees. 
For more information click on http://thedisciplinebook.blogspot.com/
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