An emergency room doctor who claimed she was removed from the work schedule and subsequently terminated in retaliation for complaining about charging practices did not timely file a claim under the Virginia Whistleblower Protection Act, the Supreme Court of Virginia has held.

The high court’s decision in Ingleside Emergency Group LLC v. Hollis (VLW 025-6-031) reversed a Court of Appeals of Virginia’s decision affirming the denial of the former employer’s plea in bar.

Justice Teresa M. Chafin wrote for the court, finding that the doctor sustained an initial injury from the alleged retaliatory action in March 2021 but did not file a claim under the VWPA until April 1, 2022, beyond the one-year statutory filing limitation.

The doctor had argued that the true start of the one-year clock was a June 2021 termination letter, rather than her removal from the schedule in March 2021.

The court disagreed.

“That she later discovered her injury to be greater than she first realized is immaterial to when she first sustained the injury,” Chafin wrote. “Thus, as pled, her cause of action for her termination accrued and the statute of limitations commenced at the time of the removal in March of 2021.”

Counsel for the parties in the case could not be reached for comment before deadline.

Removal from schedule

The plaintiff entered into contracts with Ingleside Emergency Group and Kingsford Emergency Group in November 2018 to provide emergency medical services at HCA Healthcare Company...

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