Opinion ID: 1042298
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Clinic Incident

Text: On the same day, March 24, Chevron nurse Angela Fortney sent an e-mail to Ion informing him that his “FMLA paperwork ha[d] been sent to [him] in the mail.” She continued, “[Y]ou need to report to the clinic ASAP to complete a GO153 form.” A GO-153 form is entitled “Authorization for Release of Medical and Other Information” and requires the contact information of the employee’s health care provider. Watson testified that the form is necessary to “certify the FMLA” so that the company can “talk to the physician to make sure that the illness qualifies as an FMLA.” Ion went to the clinic the next day, March 25, after another nurse asked him to come in and “sign some paperwork for disability.” According to Ion, once he arrived at the clinic, one of the nurses requested that he sign the GO-153 form. The nurse informed him that the form was “a medical release that would allow Chevron to get copies of his medical records.” Ion told the nurse that Tina Taylor, an EAP counselor, had assured him he would not have to sign a release. He reports that the nurse responded that “she was not allowed to answer any questions or give him any information,” and “[s]he insisted that [he] had to sign the form.” Ion asserts that he asked two other nurses about the same matter; 8 We refer to Melcher as the refinery’s “General Manager” pursuant to Ion’s description of Melcher’s position. However, Melcher’s exact job title is unclear. The record indicates that he was Watson’s “immediate boss,” and Ogborn refers to needing Melcher’s “permission” to go forward with Ion’s suspension. 8 Case: 12-60682 Document: 00512388400 Page: 9 Date Filed: 09/26/2013 No. 12-60682 both told him “they could not answer any questions.” Instead, they referred him to Angela Fortney, who was not available. Ion reports becoming “extremely frustrated because [the nurses] were asking him to sign a form that they weren’t explaining.” After a nurse told him to ask Human Resources, he called Johnette Watson. When he asked for information explaining the GO-153 form, Watson gave him various policy numbers to request from Ogborn. Ion requested and reviewed the policies, but he alleges that “none explained the form.” He again contacted Watson, who gave him two additional policy numbers. Ion reviewed these policies as well but found no mention of GO-153 forms. Ion then returned to the clinic “looking for Ms. Taylor,” the EAP counselor. Another nurse took him to Taylor’s office, but Taylor was not there. He did, however, see Fortney and informed her that “he needed to ask . . . some questions about the difference in short-term disability, long-term and FMLA.” Ion reports that Fortney “exploded. She stood up and in a loud voice demanded that Ion get out and leave the clinic.” Ion recalls feeling “speechless, shocked and humiliated.” He left the refinery without signing the form. The next day, March 26, Ion reports receiving a call from Alice Brown, who told him that Chevron had assigned her to be his Case Manager for his FMLA leave. Ion alleges that “[s]he apologized for the nurses having called him into the clinic” and “said that should not have happened.” In his “note to file” about the incident, dated March 25, Ogborn wrote: [Ion] refused to sign the [GO-153] form stating that the EAP Rep . . . said that he didn’t need to sign the form. [Ion] asked the Clinic personnel many HR questions regarding policies and pay of which they didn’t know the answers to and repeatedly referred him to HR. . . . He was asked to leave but tried to circumvent leaving by getting another clinic employee . . . to take him to [Taylor’s] office even after he was told that [Taylor] 9 Case: 12-60682 Document: 00512388400 Page: 10 Date Filed: 09/26/2013 No. 12-60682 wasn’t in today. The clinic employees told Ogborn that Ion had made them feel uncomfortable. They described his demeanor to Ogborn as “passive/aggressive harassment,” “disgruntled,” and “angry” and reported that Ion told the nurses he “didn’t trust them.” Ogborn testified that this incident was serious enough to call security “for a potential workplace violence situation.” Watson testified that, although she “[could not] recall” believing that Ion posed any threat, “[s]ecurity had some reservations” about Ion. Revere Christophe, a security officer at the refinery, testified that he conducted a “threat assessment” regarding Ion after the clinic incident on March 25.9 In this assessment, he determined that Ion was “belligerent and abusive toward the nursing staff.” Because this behavior “[g]ave rise to concerns of workplace violence,” Christophe banned Ion from entering Chevron’s property.