Sharon and Robert Dulude v. Fletcher Allen Health Care, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Vermont affirmed summary judgment for Fletcher Allen Health Care on a nurse's claims for breach of an implied just-cause contract, promissory estoppel, public-policy wrongful discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and defamation. Even assuming the hospital's handbook and policies implied a just-cause term, the court held that her termination for aberrant narcotic-administration practices and patient complaints constituted just cause as a matter of law, and that her professional disagreement with the hospital's drug-administration standards could not ground a clear-and-compelling public-policy claim. The IIED claim failed because a reasonable jury could not find the hospital's conduct extreme and outrageous. The court adopted the discovery rule for defamation claims but held the suit time-barred because Dulude knew or through reasonable diligence should have known the facts underlying the claim more than three years before filing.