A Superior Court judge has rejected Washington Hospital’s motion to throw out a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Dr. Bhupinder Bhandari.

Bhandari asserts in court papers that the hospital retaliated against him and prevented him from assuming his elected position of Chief of Staff because he was interviewed in the movie “Life for Sale.” That movie was very critical of both the hospital and its CEO Nancy Farber, although Bhandari wasn’t filmed say anything negative about either.

Basically Washington said Bhandari couldn’t file a lawsuit because he hadn’t exhausted all of his options in fighting the the negative actions against him. For instance, he could have appealed it to the medical staff or the board of directors.

But the judge found that Washington failed to follow its own bylaws by not notifying Bhandari that he had a right to a hearing.

In court papers, Bhandari declared that “On or about Aug. 24, 2008, the Hospital terminated its legal counsel within days after she advised that my comments in Life for Sale were neutral and general;” and

“On or around August 25, 2008, Washington Hospital administration encouraged and/or circulated a petition for the Medical Staff and Nursing Staff to sign, accusing me of adversely affecting patient care and committing fraud through my participation in Life for Sale, in order to make a showing of no confidence in my work and to discourage staff from working with me.”