My Day in Court

Testifying in court is not something that most MTs will experience in their lifetimes, at least not related to their profession.  Yes, physicians, nurses, entire hospitals are sued all the time, more than likely on a daily basis if you bing’d the topic (I know the common practice is googling, but I’m a Bing convert and won’t go back).  It is my understanding that it is rare for the medical transcriptionist to have to testify in legal cases.  I never dreamed I would be taking the stand in any such case, but that is exactly what happened to this very unsuspecting, and very unprepared, young MT. 

It started out a very normal day, just like any other.  I do remember, though, that I had worn my hair in 2 pony tails,  had on navy slacks and a red checkered blouse, so I really looked more like a 10-year-old on her way to grandma’s house for a picnic in the backyard.  We all have those days where you get behind on the laundry, don’t have time to wash and style your hair, so you grab the cleanest thing you can find that is office-presentable and throw the ties around your hair.  After all, I’m sitting at my desk usually most of the day, and no one sees me transcribing away the day, right? 

Of all the days for this situation to come up, this so should have not been the day!  My boss called me down to his office around mid morning.  I was not concerned or feeling I was in any kind of trouble, because he did call me once in a while for various reasons, but nothing of major significance.  I did notice that his secretary was not at her desk, so I knocked on his door and went in.  He hands me a medical chart and informs me I need to run down to the court house, give the record to the attorney who would be meeting me there, and let him know that what I was handing him was an original chart of the clinic (no copies or rough drafts or anything along those lines).  My boss explained that normally his secretary handled this type of task, but she was out that day with a sick child, so he felt I was the next logical choice. 

At first I felt very flattered that he would entrust me to this important task, but then I got a bit nervous.  Court house? Attorney? Parking validated?  He assured me in no uncertain terms that all I had to do was hand the lawyer this medical record and inform him that it was an original chart of the clinic.  No more, no less.  I was familiar with the medical records, since I did have access to them all the time, and the discharged records were located in my office. I obviously would know this was an original file.  I did feel pretty bad that I looked more like Pollyanna in my picnic garb, but there was not a whole lot I could do about that.  My boss knowing what I would really be facing was probably thrilled I looked like such an innocent young thing!

I easily found the room I was to report to and walked over to Mr. Attorney to hand him the chart, which he did take, but then he tells me to sit down.  I assumed it was because I would be waiting to get the chart back to take it back with me to the clinic.  It wasn’t  the chart I was waiting for—it was The Stand in the court room. You know—that scary chair you have to sit on in front of a crowd, with a judge, a jury, too many lawyers to count, and having to “swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God!”   The defense attorney who informed me of this said I was not to worry, it was just a formality of identifying the chart for the court records. 

Thinking back on it, really it was not as bad as it would seem, because obviously I knew I was not in trouble with the law, but still, when you sit in that chair, you definitely can feel like the guilty party. The defense questions were easy enough. I had to state and spell my name, and then I answered some questions about the chart.  What department was it from, what was in the chart, was it an original chart.  

When the attorney finished with his questions, I started to step down.  The judge bellows out (well, at least it sounded like bellowing to me), “Mrs. Seitz, please stay seated so the prosecutor can question you.” Prosecutor?  Oh yeah, I guess he does have the right to do that, doesn’t he?  Let me tell you, that guy was great at making me feel I was on trial!  He wanted to know how the clinic was funded. It was a United Way Agency.  Where do other funds come from? How in the world would I know that?  I was obviously honest and said I did not know.  I don’t remember all the questions I was asked, other than to again verify the contents of the medical record, but I was ready to hear the guilty verdict before I was allowed to leave that room.

I should explain that it was not the clinic that was being sued.  The defendant had been hurt and was receiving therapy at the clinic, but his injury was from another party.  This part of the procedure was to show he was getting therapy and so forth.  The defense attorney let me know I did fine, but when I went back to the office, I really let my boss have it.  I did not care if I got fired. I had to let him know I was not happy he put me in that position.  He said he had no idea I would be testifying, which we both knew was not true, but I could not prove it of course.  He was kind enough to let me vent my frustrations and was very apologetic, but you will never convince me he did not know what I was facing.   

I’m not sure what lesson I learned from that experience other than to never go to the office unprepared thinking you can get away with hiding behind your desk all day. Well, I can share one positive from that crazy day.  If you do your job well, your boss or supervisor will know they can depend on you to tackle just about anything, even a court room.  Knowing my boss had that kind of confidence in me was quite rewarding and did play a part in my professional development (and my professional wardrobe).   Not too long after that, I was heading into my second MT job at the hospital where I was born.  More on that next time.