• 01
  • February
    2012

When it comes to unlawful employment practices, victims rarely experience a single complaint. The issues involved in these types of situations are often intertwined. When an employee suffers retaliation or wrongful termination for example, it is often because they complained of a different kind of employment law violation such as sexual harassment, discrimination or wage and hour issues.

One such complex situation arose in California when four doctors were allegedly harassed for complaining when they noticed a pattern of compromised patient safety in the hospital where they were employed. The harassment eventually led to their constructive discharge.

The four doctors filed suit in a California court this week and is set to go into mediation. If no agreement can be reached by the parties, then the civil case will go to trial with a jury.

According to court documents, the doctors filed complaints after they noticed that there were consistent patient safety issues that hospital officials repeatedly failed to address. When the doctors brought unanswered complaints to county executives, the hospital allegedly then began their discrimination.

One of the doctors said that she management transferred her to a satellite outpatient clinic after filing a lawsuit over unaddressed complaints. The doctor also became the victim of sexual harassment targeted against her by the chief medical officer prior to the move. After the move, her peer reviews described her as having poor patient care. Eventually, her contract was terminated seven months prior to its expiration.

Source: Mass Device, "Heart docs claim harassment for exposing poor patient care," Jan. 26, 2012