Clinton County settles out of court with former nurse who filed lawsuit over COVID rules
Clinton County has agreed to pay $35,000 to a Breese nurse who sued its health department last year after allegedly being fired for refusing to tell local law enforcement which residents had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The payment to nurse Diane Kuhl is part of a private settlement obtained this week by the BND through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The county denies “fault, liability or wrongdoing” in the settlement.
“Plaintiff understands and agrees that ... all payments made under the provisions in this Agreement are made for the purpose of settlement and compromise only, to avoid the cost and expense, uncertainty and time associated with further litigation,” it reads.
The settlement states that the county will pay $10,000 of the agreed-upon payment. The $25,000 balance will be paid by its insurance company, the Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust.
Both sides are responsible for their own legal fees.
Kuhl worked as a part-time nurse for the Clinton County Health Department for four years. She was fired April 3, 2020, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 27 in Clinton County Circuit Court.
In late July, Kuhl’s attorney, Carl Draper, of FeldmanWasser in Springfield, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit “with prejudice” (permanently), which was required under the settlement.
“She got the relief that she was seeking in court, which was to make up for the lost wages and benefits she suffered because of this wrongful termination,” Draper said last week.
The lawsuit stated that the Health Department’s former interim administrator, Sean Eifert, told Kuhl to provide names and addresses of COVID-19 patients to Clinton County Sheriff’s Department and police chiefs in municipalities so they could take extra precautions when responding to 911 calls.
Draper characterized this as unnecessary, noting that the Illinois Department of Public Health already was recommending that first responders behave as if everyone was contagious, just in case.
In the lawsuit, Kuhl argued that it would have been illegal for her to provide the information to outside agencies under federal and state laws that protect patient privacy and that she could have faced disciplinary action, including the loss of her nursing license.
“We certainly hope that the point was made that there are important public interests that she was concerned about, which is why she filed her lawsuit in the first place,” Draper said.
The lawsuit maintained that Kuhl was protected from retaliation under the state’s Whistleblower Act for refusing to violate the Illinois Medical Patient Rights Act and Nurse Practice Act and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
By mid-June, Clinton County court records indicated that Kuhl and the county were working to settle the case privately.
“The settlement was finalized over the last couple of months,” said Ben Jacobi, of O’Halloran, Kosoff, Geitner & Cook, based in Chicago with offices in Springfield and O’Fallon, who is representing the county.
Jacobi declined to comment on the settlement’s terms.
Marion County Health Department hired Kuhl last fall to help with COVID cases, according to minutes of a Board of Health meeting on Sept. 15, 2020, that referred to her as a “great asset.”
Last week, department Administrator Melissa Mallow verified that Kuhl was still working for Marion County.
Kuhl won’t be commenting publicly on the Clinton County lawsuit or settlement, according to Draper.
“The county insisted on a non-disparagement provision, so she’s going to be reluctant to talk about it,” he said, noting that both sides agreed not to disparage the other publicly.
Clinton County also agreed to provide a “neutral employment reference” for Kuhl in the future.
In April 2020, Eifert was serving as interim administrator for Clinton County Health Department and administrator for Bond County Health Department, where he’s still employed.
Earlier this year, Chris Leidel took Eifert’s place in Clinton County. Last week, Leidel referred questions about Kuhl’s lawsuit to the state’s attorney’s office. He released the following statement, which consists of the agreed-upon wording of her employment reference:
“Diane Kuhl was employed by the Clinton County Health Department from April 26, 2016, to April 3, (2020), as an R.N. and Communicable Disease Investigator. Some of the key responsibilities for that position included: Vaccine For children (VFC) Coordinator, private pay immunization program (VAXCARE) for community citizens, Childhood lead testing and case management, venipuncture and immunizations of children and adults, wellness education to patients and county employees and Direct Observed Therapy (DOT) for tuberculosis patients.”
