High Court Rules UW Doctor’s Suit Must Go To Trial

A University of Washington physician who was fired in 1990 on grounds he had failed to end his drug addiction must go to trial to argue his case for reinstatement and damages, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The high court overturned a summary judgment by King County Superior Judge Ricardo Martinez that Dr. Scott Sherman was entitled to get his job back and be awarded monetary damages.

The court unanimously rejected the trial court’s finding that Sherman had suffered breach of contract, discrimination and retaliatory discharge, saying those issues should be examined in a trial.

Sherman was fired on Jan. 12, 1990, after his superiors heard evidence that he was still using narcotics even after undergoing employer-sponsored treatment for addictions to intravenous narcotics.