By Karla Ward, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.
Jul. 26–Six current or former employees of Select Specialty Hospital have filed a federal lawsuit against the Lexington facility, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation.
Monica Hall, Rotasha Jackson, Cabrina Logan, Tisha Spencer, Pauline Robinette and Will Singleton filed suit July 18 in U.S. District Court in Lexington against Select Specialty Hospital-Lexington Inc. and its parent, Pennsylvania-based Select Medical Corp.
Carolyn Curnane, spokeswoman for Select, said the company’s policy is to not comment on active litigation.
The company operates 92 specialty hospitals, including the 41-bed mini-hospital inside Samaritan Hospital, and more than 1,100 outpatient rehabilitation clinics.
Jackson, a registered nurse, and licensed practical nurses Hall and Logan, all of whom are black, allege that they were “called off,” or told not to come in to work because there were not enough patients, more often than whites.
Jackson alleges that she was paid less than white employees with similar qualifications and that she was not allowed to work in the ICU without special training, even though white employees were allowed to do so and she had asked for the training.
She and Hall allege they were fired in retaliation for filing charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Among Logan’s allegations is that a fellow employee who became upset with her told her to “get back on the boat,” a reference to her African-American heritage.
Spencer, a certified nursing assistant who is black, alleges that she was suspended for having a conversation with a co-worker in which they expressed “personal opinions on homosexuality and Christianity.” The co-worker, who is white, received only a warning.
“It was the most hostile environment I have ever worked in in my entire nursing career,” she said in an interview.
Robinette, an LPN whose mother is Chilean, alleges that fellow employees would no longer help her with patients after her national origin became known.
She was fired Nov. 30 and reported to the Kentucky Board of Nursing because a drug test found narcotics in her bloodstream, even though Robinette alleges that she had a prescription. The Board of Nursing did not take action against her.
Singleton, a registered nurse who filed suit separately, is a white man. He says he complained to the company after hearing his supervisor making racially insensitive comments and jokes and after noticing that black employees were called off much more frequently than whites.
After making the complaints, Singleton says, he fell under scrutiny by the company, began getting “called off” in violation of company policy and was fired when Select falsely accused him of stealing pain medication and failing a drug test.
The company also filed a complaint with the Board of Nursing, which Singleton said caused him to lose other nursing jobs, even though the board did not discipline him.
“I would like to see Select finally held accountable for everything wrong they allowed to go on at the facility,” Hall said. “What I am hoping for this case to do is to bring about change in the workplaces in Kentucky. … “
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