If a patient believes you committed an act of medical misconduct that caused them injuries and damages, they may exercise their right to report you. Specifically, they may go to the healthcare facility that employs you, along with the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD). These two separate entities may handle this one complaint in varying ways. Without further ado, please follow along to find out whether you can get fired after the OPMC or OPD declares you not guilty and how one of the proficient New York health care professional defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you fight for justice in the matter at hand.
Can I get fired after being found not guilty of medical misconduct?
The healthcare facility that employs you may have its own administrative procedure for handling medical misconduct complaints. That is, after they run an investigation against you, they may have their own course of action for how to discipline you. At this time, they may choose to, in a worst-case scenario, terminate your employment. Then, by law, they may be required to report this submitted complaint to the OPMC or OPD.
From here, the OPMC or OPD may conduct a different investigation and even call you in for a hearing in front of its Board. In an ideal scenario, the Board may rule that you are not guilty of committing the alleged medical misconduct offense. With this, you may not face any disciplinary actions. However, this may not reverse your employer’s decision to fire you. After all, New York is an at-will employment state. This means that your employer may terminate you at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all. This is so long as it is not for an illegal reason, such as a retaliation tactic for having a medical misconduct complaint placed against you that caused a whole spectacle in the first place.
What are alternative actions that my employer might take against me?
If the OPMC finds you not guilty of medical misconduct and closes the complaint or dismisses the action placed against you, this will not be made a public record. Even so, word of mouth may spread or circulate in your workplace. Your employer may fear that patients will learn about this past incident and be hesitant to use the healthcare facility’s services any further. And so, even if you were innocent in the matter, your employer may exercise their right to temporarily suspend you or permanently demote your position at the facility.
We understand that you must be eager to start this process. So, without further delay, please schedule your initial consultation with one of the talented New York healthcare professional defense lawyers from Walker Medical Law today.
