Novant Health Unable to Escape Nurse’s State Disability Claims

Novant Health Inc. was awarded summary judgment on a former North Carolina nurse’s state wrongful discharge claim, but her disability discrimination and failure to accommodate claims survived, a federal court ruled.

The nurse, Denise Baucom, didn’t provide an adequate comparator for the wrongful discharge claim, which has the same evidentiary requirements as a Title VII claim, the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina said on Tuesday.

After a rotator cuff surgery, Denise Baucom requested an accommodation since some of the patients in the hospice unit where she worked had to lift and reposition patients and her ...