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Doctor denied right to sue employer over dismissal

A New York Court of Appeals decision sacrifices physicians' medical ethics to protect the ability of companies in the state to fire workers at will.

By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. March 17, 2003.

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New York physicians employed by industry, rather than a traditional office or hospital setting, say a decision by New York's highest court puts them in a precarious position if their employer ever asks them to break medical ethics.

Their choices: Ignore their ethical obligations to keep their jobs, but then potentially lose their medical licenses. Or, adhere to professional ethical standards, but perhaps get fired.

And if physicians lose their jobs, they have no recourse in New York courts, the state Court of Appeals ruled 5-1 in late February. The case, brought by Sheila E. Horn, DO, against The New York Times, alleged that the company asked Dr. Horn to share confidential patient records and to misinform patients about how their injuries occurred.

"It's a harsh lesson," said Donald R. Moy, general counsel for the Medical Society of the State of New York, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief along with the AMA/State Medical Society Litigation Center. "If you are a physician employed by a nonmedical provider and you stand up to an employer's directive, you have to be prepared to be fired."

Dr. Horn's attorney, Pearl Zuchlewski, also called the decision a disappointment. "It's regrettable that physicians, and presumably other professionals, will be in a position where they have to choose between employment and maintaining their professional integrity."

Compared with laws in other states, New York has some of the strictest rules regarding when an employee has grounds to proceed with a lawsuit against an employer.