Legal Ch 13

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Employment discrimination laws are enforced by them (p.248)

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The most significant legislation affecting equal employment opportunities today. (p.248)

False Claims Act of 1986

allows a private citizen to file a civil lawsuit in the name of the U.S. Government to recoup money the government has paid for a false claim, such as a fraudulent Medicare or Medicaid claim.

Vicarious liability or substituted liability

describes the instance in which one party is responsible for the actions of another.

Affirmative action

differs from equal employment opportunity. Centers for affirmative action enhance employment opportunities of protected groups of people, whereas EEO is concerned with using employment practices that do not discriminate against or impair the employment opportunities of protected groups.

Respondeat Superior

"let the master respond" or "let the master answer," is the common law principle of substituted liability based on a master-servant relationship. While nurses may disagree with what a master-servant relationship implies, the courts have found similar elements: (1) the employer controls the actions of the employee, and (2) substituted liability applies only to actions within the scope and course of employment. The effect of this doctrine is that the employer is given responsibility and accountability for an employee's negligent actions and the injured party may recover damages from the employer or employing institution.

exceptions to Employment-at-will

1. The public policy exception 2. Implied contracts and the concept of wrongful discharge 3. The "good faith and fair dealing" exception

Constructive discharge

A final option for persons who have endured intolerable conditions at work caused by illegal acts of discrimination is to resign. Once the individual has resigned, he or she may file a claim of this.

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act

President Obama signed this on March 30, 2010. This subsequent act was enacted to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as it related to the federal budgetary resolutions and deficit. Basically, this act was enacted to amend the earlier act as it related to the federal budgetary resolutions and deficit.

Indemnification

allows the employer to recover from the individual personally responsible any damages paid under the doctrine of respondeat superior for the negligent act.

Ostensible authority

an application of agency law that allows a principal to be liable for acts and omissions by independent contractors working within the principal's place of business or at the direction of the principal when a third party misinterprets the relationship as employer-employee. In health care law, hospitals have been held responsible for actions by independent contractors in lawsuits in which reasonable patients argued that they could not distinguish hospital employees from independent contractors.

Personal liability

makes each individual responsible for his or her own actions.

Equal Pay Act of 1963

makes it illegal to pay lower wages to employees of one gender when the jobs: 1. Require equal skill in experience, training, education and ability. 2. Require equal effort in mental or physical exertion. 3. Are of equal responsibility and accountability. 4. Are performed under similar working conditions.

Doctrine of negligent hiring and retention

often used by injured parties when respondeat superior cannot be applied to the specific fact situation. For example, negligent hiring and firing may be applied in situations in which nurses were not acting within the course and scope of employment or in which they were acting solely for personal reasons. This doctrine essentially means that the employer can still be held liable if the injured party can show that the employee was incompetent or unsafe for the position and that the employer knew or should have known that the employee was incompetent or unsafe.

Independent contractor

one who arranges with another to perform a service, but who is not under the control or right to control of the second person. In nursing, independent contractor status usually applies to private-duty nurses and selected advanced practitioner roles.

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)

oversees the act and those who come under its auspices. Ensures that employees can choose freely whether they want to be represented by a particular bargaining unit, and it serves to prevent or remedy any violation of the labor laws.

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

signed into law in February 1993 and became effective upon its enactment. The law was passed due to the large number of single parent and two-parent households in which the single parent or both parents are employed full-time, placing job security and parenting at odds. The law was also passed due to the aging population of the United States and the demands that aging parents place on their working children. The act attempts to balance the demands of the workplace with the demands of the family, allowing employed individuals to take leaves for medical reasons.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

signed into legislation by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Citing a need for health insurance reform and a need to insure the millions of uninsured Americans, the PPACA provides for the phased implementation over 4 years of a comprehensive system of mandated health insurance reforms designed to eliminate precondition screenings, premium loading fees and structures, policy cancellation when illnesses appear imminent, and annual and lifetime coverage gaps. The act also sets a minimum ratio of direct health care spending to premium income, creates price-control measures through the creation of three standard insurance coverage levels to enable side-by-side comparisons by consumers.

Whistleblower law

states that no employer can discharge, threaten, or discriminate against any employee regarding compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment because the employee in good faith reported or caused to be reported, verbally or in writing, what the employee had a reasonable cause to believe was a violation of a law, rule, or regulation of state or federal law.

Corporate liability

the doctrine that evolved as hospitals became more profitable and competitive that holds the institution liable for its responsibilities to patients.

Age of Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

the outcome of this Act was that it became illegal for employers, unions, and employment agencies to discriminate against older men and women.

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA)

was enacted to assure that healthful and safe working conditions would exist in the workplace. (p.255)