“With Friends Like These . . . .” Doctors and Nurses Criticizing Co-Employed Colleagues. Are These Criticisms Admissible as Vicarious Opposing Party’s Statements?

Healthcare provider incivility includes non-collegial conduct such as physicians criticizing co-employed physicians when speaking with patients. This conduct is, obviously, disruptive, and does not help to establish productive, collegial, employee relationships. Additionally, this incivility may have evidentiary consequences in medical/hospital negligence litigation. If the healthcare providers are employed by a hospital or other healthcare organization, the criticisms of co-employed colleagues which are communicated to patients may be admissible against the employer in medical/hospital negligence litigation as vicarious opposing party’s statements.

This paper explores this evidentiary curiosity.