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"A federal judge in Philadelphia has dismissed a wrongful termination<br /><br />lawsuit against Kindred Healthcare because, as the jurist wrote, the plaintiff has &ldquo;entirely disengaged&rdquo; from the litigation.<br /><br />In a five-page memorandum and order filed on Sept. 5, U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who sits in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, granted a dismissal motion that had been filed by the defendant&rsquo;s attorneys, who argued that the retaliatory discharge case should be tossed because of plaintiff Christin McLucas&rsquo;s non-involvement in the civil action.<br /><br />McLucas filed suit against Kindred Healthcare in December 2011 over claims that she was wrongfully terminated from her job of two years as a nurse for the company, which has locations in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties, because she complained about mistreatment on the part of her supervisor.<br /><br />McLucas, who alleged the mistreatment came in the form of sexual harassment, went on to represent herself in the matter after her lawyer, William T. Wilson, pulled out of the case.<br /><br />Pratter, the jurist assigned to the matter, had approved Wilson&rsquo;s petition to withdraw from the case back in April.<br /><br />Wilson had argued that he could no longer represent McLucas because the woman had cut off communication with the attorney.<br /><br />He had filed his motion to withdraw from the case last summer.<br /><br />In last week&rsquo;s memorandum and order, Pratter cited McLucas&rsquo;s failure to respond to the defendant&rsquo;s motion to dismiss as the last straw.<br /><br />&ldquo;As the procedural history of this case illustrates, Ms. McLucas has entirely disengaged from this action,&rdquo; Pratter wrote. &ldquo;The Court is satisfied that Ms. Lucas&rsquo;s conduct demonstrates that she does not intend to proceed in prosecuting her case.&rdquo;<br /><br />Pratter wrote that McLucas has failed to comply with court orders, and she has not cooperated with the defendants on discovery matters.<br /><br />&ldquo;Such behavior has forced the opposing parties to engage in costly and time consuming motion practice to achieve dismissal of the claims against them,&rdquo; the judge wrote. &ldquo;Moreover, the Defendants have been prejudiced by Ms. McLucas&rsquo;s lack of cooperation. This is particularly true for discovery purposes, as the Defendants are handicapped in defending Ms. McLucas&rsquo;s claims when she will not even submit to a deposition to answer the most basic questions about her case.&rdquo;<br /><br />Pratter wrote that it would be &ldquo;inappropriate to prolong this action&rdquo; because of the burden the defendants would surely face in continuing their defense without the plaintiff&rsquo;s cooperation."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://pennrecord.com/stories/510553370-judge-dismisses-suit-against-kindred-healthcare-cites-plaintiff-s-disengagement-in-case>