Doctor Who Says Complaints Got Her Fired Loses Suit

A jury Tuesday ruled against a Ventura physician who claimed that a medical group fired her for complaining about the quality of patient care.

After a six-day trial, the jury returned after 90 minutes of deliberations.

The panel found that Dr. Claudia Jensen was terminated by Greater Valley Medical Group because of financial cutbacks--not because she complained about pediatric practices.

The ruling “absolutely is a tragedy for the patients and the physicians in managed care,” Jensen said Tuesday night.

She questioned whether the jury listened to the evidence and vowed to appeal. She said her lawyer disagreed with jury instructions on what constitutes acceptable health care standards.

“We definitely have grounds for appeal,” Jensen said. “The problem is I am one of those little doctors with no money.”

A 43-year-old pediatrician, Jensen sued her former employers for wrongful termination and violation of a public policy statute barring retaliation against a physician for advocating medically appropriate health care.

Her lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court was among the first to test the legal waters of the relatively new state law. Amended as recently as last year, the 1993 statute has no established case history.

Jensen alleged that she was fired after complaining to her bosses and writing a letter in December 1995 that blew the whistle on practices she believed were endangering patients.

Her complaints came after working a harried 72-hour shift over a holiday weekend two years ago at two Ventura County hospitals.

As the designated on-call pediatrician, Jensen said she fielded 158 phone calls and treated 20 children while darting between hospitals in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. By her standards, she said, that was unacceptable.

Jensen said she had already complained to her supervisor at Greater Valley about the on-call practices, and complained again. Less than a month later, she was laid off.

The issue before the jury was whether Jensen was dismissed for her actions or let go for financial reasons, as her employers claim.

In closing arguments Tuesday, attorney Linda C. Miller, who represented the health care group in the lawsuit, told the jury that the evidence did not support Jensen’s claims.

To the contrary, she argued, the evidence clearly showed that Greater Valley was struggling financially and laid off Jensen plus three other doctors and 12 staff members in a cost-saving effort. The company has announced the closure, effective Jan. 31, of its branches in Oxnard, Ventura and Camarillo, leaving one in Thousand Oaks.

“What we have in this case,” she argued, “is truly a private issue between Dr. Jensen and Greater Valley that she is trying to make into a public issue.”

The lawyer described Jensen as uncooperative and said the doctor “would have you believe she was the only thing going on at Greater Valley.” But that was not the case, she said.

The managed care group had lost $3.9 million to $4 million and was taking lawful steps to address its financial crisis, and there was no breach of contract, the lawyer said. And there was no violation of public policy.

“There truly were economic problems at Greater Valley,” the lawyer said.