Court Opinion

ID: 9493809
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:20:10.25062+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:02.962219
License: Public Domain

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I disagree with the essence of the court’s opinion today that Roh did not meet the statutory requirements for consideration as an administrator. The record contains sufficient evidence for the jury to find that she was qualified to enter the training program and be considered for the promotion.
Lakeshore’s witness, Winfrey Link, offered nothing more than his personal opinion about whether Roh was qualified. He was not permitted to speak for the Tennessee Board (of which he was not a member) or to offer any opinion as to how members of the Board would view her qualifications. He acknowledged that the Board could find that Roh had sufficient acceptable management experience notwithstanding his opinion.
Roh described her management experience in detail. At the Meadows, she was director of nursing, which was far and away the largest department with the biggest budget at the facility. In addition to managing that department, she was involved in many other areas. She supervised the one employee who was responsible for medical records. She responded to. a monthly audit by the pharmacy, and she was responsible for all medications being dispensed and managed in compliance with state regulations. She was one of four people to attend quarterly pharmacy safety and infection control meetings, and she taught staff how to handle all aspects of infection control. She was also in charge of medical supplies.
In the area of admissions, Roh was responsible for assessing the facility’s ability to care for prospective residents, making arrangements for special equipment, and creating a care plan for all new patients. It was her responsibility to see that patients received proper nutrition and diets. In the area of continuing education, she coordinated the CNT classes for nurses and technicians. She was responsible for being on top of state regulations concerning patient care and record-keeping so that the facility would fare well in the regulators’ annual unannounced inspection tours. She functioned as a social worker in the absence of a social work department at the facility, with family members coming to her to discuss various patient issues. As the person “next in line” after William Sullivan, Roh was called upon if problems arose when he was gone.
John Pope became an administrator after completing the AIT program at Lake-shore. Although he had obtained a bachelor’s degree and thus was not required by Board rules to demonstrate that he had two years of acceptable management experience, he could not have become an administrator without completing the AIT program.
Pope’s employment history included operating shoe stores for twenty-five years followed by working at an independent living apartment complex. After being fired from that position, he sold shoes until he was hired by Lakeshore. He joined Lakeshore as housekeeping director at the Meadows, where he was responsible for the employees who cleaned the residents’ rooms, the public areas and the grounds. The budget for his department was significantly smaller than the nursing department’s budget. He had no responsibility over nursing functions, medical records, medical supplies, social work, dietary or admissions. Within a year of his employment Pope received a commitment from *501Donald Whitfield, president of Lakeshore, that he could enter the AIT program if he performed well. Pope was admitted to the program while he held the housekeeping position. Unlike Roh, Pope was a member of the Church of Christ.
Whitfield, testified that the company had required applicants to the AIT program to be members of the Church of Christ. Shortly after Roh filed this lawsuit, that policy changed. Sullivan admitted that Lakeshore had a a “discriminatory policy with regard to administrators” during Roh’s employment and that all administrators who were employees of Lakeshore were members of the Church of Christ. After Pope had been admitted to the AIT program, Roh had another of several conversations with Sullivan about her desire to become an administrator. Sullivan agreed that it was a strike against her that she was not a member of the Church.
There is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Roh was qualified under the Tennessee Board rules to enter the AIT program. I would affirm the judgment.