Appeals court upholds Henderson hospital’s firing of employee

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a split decision that St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson could fire an employee after he informed the hospital he intended to file for bankruptcy because he could not pay his medical bills.

The court said the federal bankruptcy law prevents the dismissal of an employee after he or she has filed for bankruptcy but not during the period the individual is considering taking the action.

The case involved Norman Majewski, who ran up large medical expenses at the hospital and then went to work there. He did not pay the expenses. After repayment negotiations failed, he told the hospital he intended to file for bankruptcy.

St. Rose fired him before he sought bankruptcy protection. William Leonard, the trustee in Majewski's bankruptcy, claimed the firing violated the bankruptcy code that bars termination of a person who "is or has been" a bankruptcy debtor, simply because of his financial status.

Chief Judge Mary Schroeder wrote in the majority opinion: "At the time the hospital fired Majewski, he was not, and had not been, a debtor in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy statutes therefore did not forbid the hospital from firing him."

Judge Stephen Reinhardt dissented, saying the majority ruling "gives employers free license to punish an employee's good-faith efforts to become a protected debtor.

"Indeed, under today's holding, an employer may take advantage of a debtor's honesty by eliminating his mostly likely means to financial recovery," Reinhardt wrote.

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