Nurse: Time off after alleged assault cost job

Hospital denies claim, saying former ER nurse requested leave of absence

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local emergency room nurse said she was fired after taking too much time off work, which she said she needed to recover from an alleged assault on the job.

Former Memorial Hospital security guard Anthony Holley was arrested, accused of attacking five employees on duty. He denies the allegations.

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One of his accusers, Debra Green -- who spoke exclusively with News4Jax on Monday -- said after she reported the alleged incident, hospital leaders let her go. That claim is denied by hospital officials, who said Green asked for a leave of absence.

Memorial Hospital administrators said they couldn't say much because of confidentiality laws and declined to be interviewed but sent a statement:

"Ms. Green requested and has been on a leave of absence. She is eligible for rehire should she choose to return."
 
Green, a registered nurse, said losing her job made a difficult situation much worse. She is one of five Memorial Hospital employees to accuse Holley of attacking them on the job, touching them inappropriately. Holley's attorney denies the allegations, calling his client "100 percent innocent."
 
Green claimed she was let go for taking too much leave six months after an alleged incident in July with Holley.

"I had been there 17 years with a good record. And I was actually dumbfounded," Green said. "I never spoke to anyone. No one ever called me. I never heard from risk management. I never heard from the HR department.

"I can't come back unless the doctor releases me, and that's what they have told me. And they wanted a time frame. I have no time frame."
 
Green said her doctor didn't think she was emotionally ready to work in the high-stress ER yet. Not only did she lose her job, she lost her health insurance, which paid for medical bills, as well as school and therapy for her son who has autism.
 
"I have taken a huge loss for coming forward," Green said. 

Employment defense attorney Adrienne Conrad said these cases can be very difficult for both sides and the answers aren't always cut and dry.
 
"Certainly when you have a situation where an employee has been out and they want to return, from our standpoint when we are talking with our clients, we encourage them to find ways to get that employee back into the job. But, of course, we have to do that within the confines of the law. If there are things that are an obstacle, such as an employee not being released by their doctor to return to work, that can cause some real issues," Conrad said. "They could have kept her because of the circumstances but it oftentimes can cause issues with consistency. It's one of the things we counsel our employers about. You have to be consistent in each situation, so if they make an exception for her, they would have to make an exception for every employee that has been out on whatever particular leave to take care of a certain injury or condition."
 
A Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said the hospital encourages Green to reapply if she wants to work there again. She would go through the rehiring process just like everyone else.

Green said after all this, she's not sure if she'd go back.