We’ve been writing a lot lately about incompetent doctors and hospitals (see here, here, here, and here),
but in civil justice terms, this may be the greatest medical story ever told.
It involves a California-based radiologist named Dr. Michael Martinucci who was forced out of his job for having the gall to complain to a superior about faulty work standards at the Kaiser Sunset Hospital in Hollywood. Reportedly, Dr. Keith Terasaki, the department head to whom Dr. Martinucci complained, responded by telling Martinucci “that it was more important to get along with the staff than to be an extraordinary radiologist.”
Even worse, not long after this exchange, false accusations about Martinucci started to fly. “Among the defamatory remarks falsely attributed to Martinucci were that he wanted to fire all black employees in his department; that he did not like it when blacks dyed their hair certain colors; that Filipinos were dumb as a box of rocks and that Salvadorans have nice legs, but are not very smart.” Eventually Martinucci resigned under the threat of being fired.
And where do you think the good doctor turned to remedy this terrible injustice? You guessed it, civil justice fans! Dr. Martinucci ran straight to the courthouse—suing Kaiser for wrongful termination, failure to promote, and defamation. (Funny how doctors generally tremble at the word “lawsuit,” but undergo miraculous conversions when they’re the ones who get hurt!) In the end, Martinucci was victorious on all counts, collecting both compensatory and punitive damages from Kaiser.
Hallelujah civil justice! And an extra-special special amen to its latest convert, Dr. Michael Martinucci!
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