Genevieve Clark is a registered nurse who injured herself while trying to transfer a patient from his bed to a wheelchair. Now she’s suing her employer for damages.
Clark has filed a complaint in Harris County District Court against Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston, alleging that the facility was negligent in not training and supervising her properly and in supplying inadequately slip-resistant socks for the patient she was attempting to transfer.
As usual with such suits, it took the plaintiff two years to file it, just before the statute of limitations expired. The incident in question occurred mid-August of 2019.
“Defendant furnished socks and required all patients wear said socks,” Clark’s complaint confides. “Plaintiff placed the socks on said patient’s feet. Plaintiff placed a gait belt [a belt attached to patients with equilibrium problems to make it safer for caregivers to move them] around the patient’s abdominal area. Plaintiff locked the wheels on the patient’s bed and wheelchair. Said patient was sitting on the bed with both feet flat on the floor. As said patient stood up, said patient suddenly slipped and fell backwards. In an effort to prevent said patient from falling, Plaintiff tightly held onto said patient’s gait belt. Plaintiff’s body was pulled forward in a jolt-like movement, causing injury to her back.”
So, there you have it. It was those darned defective socks that precipitated the accident. Not any negligence or incompetence on Clark’s part. Not plain old bad luck.
Clark also notes in her complaint that the patient in question weighed “approximately two hundred pounds,” as if that were a contributing factor. Sure, if he’d weighed three hundred pounds or more, that could be a hazard, but it would still be a hazard that a registered nurse should be aware of and take into consideration, perhaps requesting assistance. Two hundred pounds, by contrast, is not an excessive weight for most men.
Clark was employed at a rehab hospital. If she hurt her back, why not work out an arrangement with the hospital for free treatment?