Opinion ID: 173268
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Alleged Heart Misallocation

Text: Finally, Rohrbough's claim that she was retaliated against for her speech regarding the alleged heart misallocation also fails as a matter of law. On appeal, she argues her communications with UNOS, the Colorado State Board of Nursing, and the Westword newspaper reporter about the alleged organ misallocation at the Hospital were all protected under the First Amendment. An examination of the record, however, reveals that Rohrbough failed to raise her communications with the Colorado State Board of Nursing and the Westword reporter in the district court. Her allegations regarding the Heart Switch Cover up appear in paragraphs 18-31 of her complaint. Those paragraphs state that Rohrbough initially directed her concerns to the following individuals: (1) Dr. Ronald Zolty, an attending physician in the Heart Transplant Division; (2) Dr. JoAnn Lindenfeld, the Division's director; (3) Karin Keller, Rohrbough's supervisor; (4) Nancy Ireland, a nurse within the Division; (5) Joyce Cashman, the Hospital's executive vice president; and (6) Colleen Goode, the Hospital's vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer. Due to her continuing concerns about the situation, Rohrbough then alleges she called UNOS and spoke with a representative who was already investigating the incident. Nowhere in her complaint does she allege that she contacted any other individuals or outside entities, or that she was retaliated against for engaging in such speech. In addition, Rohrbough completely failed to raise these issues in her response to the Hospital's motion to dismiss or in her subsequent response to the Hospital's motion for summary judgment. As a consequence, this court will not consider the purported communications with the Colorado State Board of Nursing and the Westword reporter as part of the allegedly protected speech. Walker v. Mather (In re Walker), 959 F.2d 894, 896 (10th Cir.1992) (noting this circuit follows the general rule that a federal appellate court does not consider an issue not passed upon below (quotation omitted)). Rohrbough's communications with other Hospital employees regarding the alleged heart misallocation and UNOS cover-up fall within the scope of her official duties. The undisputed facts demonstrate Rohrbough's responsibilities included contacting UNOS to list a patient for an organ transplant and to change a patient's status. Her internal discussions about these duties certainly stemmed from and were the type of activities that she was paid to do. Green, 472 F.3d at 801. Indeed, Rohrbough testified that Goode, the Hospital's chief nursing officer, told her to leave [the UNOS] problems with those within the hospital at a level above myself. Rohrbough also testified that Cashman, the Hospital's executive vice president, told her that her only recourse was to take the problem to Dr. Lindenfeld because she was in charge and was the director of the heart transplant program. Under the undisputed facts, Rohrbough's internal discussions with Dr. Zolty, Dr. Lindenfeld, Keller, Ireland, Cashman, and Goode about the UNOS misallocation fell within the scope of her official duties under Garcetti/Pickering. Rohrbough's additional reporting to UNOS, an outside agency that Rohrbough was nevertheless required to maintain some official contacts with, presents a closer question. This court, however, need not resolve the question of whether this additional reporting fell within the scope of Rohrbough's official duties because her claim cannot survive the fourth prong of the Garcetti/Pickering analysis. Step four looks to whether the protected speech was a motivating factor in the adverse employment action. Dixon, 553 F.3d at 1302. Although this step is ordinarily resolved by the trier of fact, see, e.g., Brammer-Hoelter, 492 F.3d at 1203, there simply is no evidence in the record from which a trier of fact could reasonably conclude the UNOS speech was a motivating factor in Rohrbough's termination. Rohrbough's supervisor, Margaret Frueh, testified that she had no knowledge of Rohrbough's UNOS reporting prior to terminating Rohrbough. Specifically, Frueh testified that [a]t no time during Ms. Rohrbough's employment at the Hospital did I have knowledge of her reports to UNOS regarding the alleged `heart-switch cover-up.' Against the weight of this statement, Rohrbough simply argues that she has presented enough evidence for a reasonable jury to find that her speech was indeed the motivating factor in her termination. Specifically, she contends that Frueh's credibility should be determined by a jury and that discussions regarding the heart transplant continued through the spring and summer of 2003  just before her September 2003 performance evaluation. The record certainly supports a conclusion that Rohrbough engaged in a number of discussions with a variety of Hospital employees about the alleged misallocation of the heart. This evidence might allow a jury to infer that Frueh knew of Rohrbough's involvement in the incident. However, there is no evidence whatsoever that Rohrbough told Frueh, or any of her other superiors, of her decision to report the incident to UNOS. Accordingly, she has failed to present sufficient evidence for a reasonable trier of fact to find that her communications with UNOS were a motivating factor in her termination.