Ohioans who have long hours know that it can sometimes lead to exceedingly tired nights and groggy mornings. But, at what point does an employer become responsible for the heath of employees? This wrongful death case is trying to explore that issue, because one man is claiming that his wife was worked to death.
According to the story, the woman was a nurse who worked many hours, and she was allegedly being “worked to death” because of understaffing at the hospital. Her excessive hours are now the centerpiece and focus of a case that is questioning if her long hours actually led to the car accident that killed her.
According to the lawsuit, the woman worked at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 2000 until 2013, when she passed away in March. She normally worked three 12-hour shifts, according to the report, but when the hospital was taken over by Mercy Health Partners of Southwest Ohio, she allegedly had to take more hours to help cover for the low amount of staff members.
The report claims that the woman’s hours “significantly exceeded” the hours she was meant to work, and with her original schedule at a full-time pace, it’s clear that it would have been many long days. The long hours and working conditions, which the lawsuit claims included not having breaks or having to skip using a bathroom, were a cause for anxiety and stress to the nursing staff. The lawsuit claims that this led to the nurses acting out of character and behaving irritably.
During the woman’s last shift, she allegedly complained that she hadn’t been able to eat and was stressed. Now, her husband is suing for wrongful death because he feels the hospital should have been held responsible for having a large enough staff in the woman’s unit, because by not doing so, the woman was in a fragile mental state.
Source:
Medical Daily, “Ohio Nurse ‘Worked To Death’: Husband Sues Hospital For Forcing Wife To Work Extra Hours” Nadia-Elysse Harris, Nov. 13, 2013