Michael Hanna · C. Ryan Morgan
Don't Quit on the Sixth - $10,034,951 Employment Law Verdict for the Wrongful Termination of a Medical Resident
August 26, 2026 ||
In 2020-2021, Dr. Nicole Walker was a PGY-2 OB/GYN medical resident at Ascension Genesys Hospital in Michigan. Dr. Walker was required to pass the COMLEX Level 3 examination as a condition of continuing in the residency program. Ascension’s written policy stated that postgraduate trainees had to pass COMLEX Level III before completing the sixth month of their second postgraduate year, and that failure to pass would result in termination from the training program and employment.
Dr. Walker first took the COMLEX Level 3 exam in September 2020 while approximately seven months pregnant. After she did not pass the first attempt, Ascension gave her an eight-week extension, but the extension required her to retake the exam by January 31, 2021 — during the same period she was on FMLA/short-term disability/maternity leave after childbirth.Dr. Walker began maternity/FMLA/short-term disability leave on December 7, 2020. Her leave was initially approved through January 18, 2021, and after she requested an extension, it was extended through January 31, 2021. Sedgwick notified Ascension that she had requested the extension.
Despite that leave, Dr. Walker retook COMLEX Level 3 on January 27 and 28, 2021. After she did not pass the retake, Ascension terminated her residency. Dr. Walker alleged she was required to prepare for and take a career-defining examination under circumstances affected by pregnancy and maternity leave, and that her termination was discriminatory. The defendant argued it was enforcing a neutral program policy requiring residents to pass the exam by a set deadline.
The case dealt with the following issues:
- Defendant framed its termination as neutral enforcement of a licensing-exam policy. Plaintiff had to place this policy in its proper broader context. Dr. Walker was not simply a resident who failed a test. She was a pregnant and postpartum physician who was forced to prepare for and take a career-defining examination during approved FMLA/short-term disability/maternity leave, then terminated when she failed under those conditions.
- Plaintiff was also on a performance improvement plan for other issues. Most of those issues had to be placed in proper context to show the jury that they were unrelated to the actual reason for termination and were being used to discredit Plaintiff.
- There was no evidence of psychological treatment presented at trial. Plaintiff had to tell the damages story through lived experience — showing the jury what this termination meant to Dr. Walker through her direct examination and the details of what she endured. Ultimately, the jury awarded $4,800,000 in noneconomic/compensatory damages.
- The case required explaining how residency is different from ordinary employment. The economic damages case depended on showing that termination from a residency program did not merely end a job — it derailed a medical career path. Defendant also relied on the match program and mitigation arguments to challenge the economic damages. Ultimately, the jury awarded $5,234,951 for economic damages.
In this presentation, Michael will break down the trial strategies that helped overcome these defenses to secure a righteous verdicts for this client. He will discuss his approach to voir dire, opening statement, key witness examinations, and closing argument, with a focus on how to humanize plaintiffs, challenge purportedly neutral reasons for termination, expose the defense's pretext, and try difficult employment cases where defendants frame termination decisions as neutral, policy-based, or operationally necessary.
If you can't attend Live, Watch On Demand