Personnel.

• Position: Barstow v. Shea - Getz v. Board - Corrections, Gorski v. New Hampshire Dept. of

31. Personnel U.S. District Court Barstow v. Shea, 196 F.Supp.2d 141 (D.Conn. 2002). A nurse brought a suit against her WORKING supervisor at a locked nursing facility located CONDITIONS in a correctional center. The nurse alleged that the supervisor prevented her from leaving work, despite her desire to seek medical treatment for an illness. The district court granted summary judgment, in part, in favor of the nurse. The court held that the supervisor was not entitled to qualified immunity for allegedly unreasonably seizing the nurse and for allegedly arbitrarily subjecting the nurse to differential treatment by requiring the nurse to have a coworker complete a medical incident report regarding her medical condition. The court found that the supervisor could be held liable for false imprisonment under state law, for directing a correctional officer not to unlock a door to permit the nurse to leave the facility due to a claimed illness. (Osborn Correctional Center, Connecticut) U.S. District Court Getz v. Board of County Com'rs. 194 F.Supp.2d 1154 (D.Kan. 2002). A former nurse at a county FREE SPEECH jail who had reported nursing practice violations brought an action against the county and county TERMINATION employees, alleging violation of her First Amendment free speech rights, Due Process rights, RETALIATION [section] 1983, and retaliatory termination for whistle-blowing in violation of the Kansas Whistleblower Act. The district court held that the nurse's statements to the president of the state nurses' association were matters of public concern, and that the county health department's interest in maintaining a harmonious workplace did not outweigh the nurse's rights to air her concerns regarding nursing practice violations. The district court denied, in part, summary judgment in favor of the defendants. (Shawnee County Jail, Kansas) U.S. Appeals Court Gorski v. New Hampshire Dept. of Corrections, 290 F.3d 466 (1st Cir. 2002). A former state TITLE VII corrections department employee brought a Title VII action alleging that she was constructively HOSTILE WORK discharged as a result of sexual harassment and a ENVIRONMENT hostile work environment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the DISCRIMINATION department and dismissed the action. The appeals court vacated the dismissal of the hostile work SEXUAL HARASSMENT environment claim and affirmed summary judgment in favor of the department on the sex discrimination claim...