A federal appeals court has reaffirmed a decision that released top managers at a state-run long-term care facility from liability in a worker’s lawsuit alleging his constitutional rights to a safe workplace were violated during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the defendants, mostly clinical managers, at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, MA, have qualified immunity in a lawsuit filed by a nursing aide. Plaintiff Kwesi Ablordeppey claimed risks were ignored and proper procedures were not undertaken, resulting in a dangerous workplace that included a deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
However, the facility’s then-superintendent, medical director, top nursing officers, infectious disease expert and other managers had limited immunity due to the lack of established law that could have guided their actions during the unprecedented health crisis, the First Circuit ruled in a decision handed down Wednesday.
“[A]s troublesome as the factual allegations are, Appellant has failed to point to any case law clearly establishing applicable law that guarantees him the precise constitutional protections he claims, and we have found none,” the justices wrote.
“Absent clearly established law, Appellees could not know beforehand that their alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 outbreak at Soldiers’ Home would violate Appellant’s rights,” the opinion added. “It would be inhumane not to feel a sense of outrage over [the situation], or a sense of deep sympathy for [those who passed away]. But our question is one of federal law, not one of sympathy. … As such, Appellees are entitled to qualified immunity.”
A tangle of COVID-19-related lawsuits have confronted providers in jurisdictions around the country, with mixed results.
A federal jury decided in May, for example, that the nursing home that was the site of the first major COVID-19 outbreak in the US was not liable for the deaths of two residents. Earlier this month, meanwhile, a legal legal shield for providers was taken away.
The original Soldiers’ Home complaint alleged an array of missteps and inaction by the facility’s managers in February and March of 2020, when the first COVID infections and deaths were recognized. They included allegedly allowing a COVID-19 infected patient to wander freely, lack of isolation protocols, insufficient distribution of personal protection equipment, threats against employees, and non-candid reporting of deaths and staff shortages. By the end of March, facility superintendent Bennett Walsh was dismissed after repeated discussions with Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs Francisco Urena, the lawsuit said.
Judges’ reasoning
In its discussion notes on the case, the First Circuit explained that under the doctrine of qualified immunity, government officials are immune from civil liability “so long as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Only those who knowingly violate the law or are “plainly incompetent” can be found liable, they added, citing previous case law.
The First Circuit dismissed the plaintiff’s attempts to link his claims to previous non-related legal decisions involving a state-created danger doctrine and a right to bodily integrity. Since the plaintiff did not become infected with COVID-19, the justices presumed the bodily harm claim was made based on psychological trauma. However, no legal precedent was pointed out that linked bodily harm “based on psychological harm that was sustained from a voluntary employee’s exposure to risk at a medical facility.”
In rejecting other arguments made by the plaintiff’s attorneys, the appeals court justices noted “exigent circumstances of the rapidly evolving yet unknown nature of COVID-19 called for immediate action.” They also wrote that the accused “acted in light of uncertain, developing, and constantly changing circumstances.”
The three-member First Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirmed an original decision handed down by US District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni of the U.S. District COurt for the District of Massachusetts.
A call on Friday seeking comment from the Soldiers’ Home’s media officer was not returned by late Sunday.
