Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 309941.cor.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 309941.cor.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/309941.cor.pdf ↗

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Dr. Newell declined assessing Brownfield's fitness for duty. Brownfield asked Dr. Mar

to review Dr. Newell's treatment notes and issue an updated opinion. Mar opined that

Brownfield remained unfit for duty, but believed that Brownfield would, at an

indeterminate time, be fit for duty if he continued counseling with Newell and increased

the frequency of visits from three times every two weeks to twice a week.

The city of Yakima directed Jeff Brownfield to undergo another fitness for duty

evaluation with Dr. William Ekemo on February 15,2007. In response, Brownfield

wrote an e-mail to City Manager Dick Zais, informing him that he revoked permission to

share his medical records with others, and he intended to sue Dr. Kathleen Decker for

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations. Brownfield

demanded that the Ekemo examination be recorded. He copied police administrators

with the e-mail message.

Jeff Brownfield underwent a third fitness for duty evaluation on February 15 by

Dr. Ekemo. The city of Yakima and Dr. Ekemo originally intended Ekemo's

examination to be a neuropsychological supplement to Dr. Decker's examination.

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No. 30994-1-111
Brownfield v. City of Yakima

Because Brownfield sent Dr. Decker notice that he intended to sue her for malpractice

and HIPAA violations, city of Yakima asked Dr. Ekemo to perform a complete

evaluation. Dr. Ekemo could not complete the entire examination on February 15, and so

scheduled a return appointment for March 6. Brownfield refused to attend the second

day despite orders to do so. When Brownfield's attorney notified Dr. Ekemo that