On Tuesday a case was filed in the Northern District of Texas against Lubbock County Hospital District, doing business as University Medical Center, by a former employee. The complaint alleges was regarding age and disability discrimination and retaliation.
The plaintiff was employed by the defendant as a Staff Nurse in the Surgical Testing and Registration Center and handled pre-admission testing for patients receiving outpatient surgery, according to the complaint. In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, when elective procedures were suspended, the plaintiff was reassigned to providing temperature screening for persons entering the hospital.
In April 2020, the complaint said, the plaintiff was reassigned to provide active nursing on the medical surgical unit. The plaintiff said she reported to the defendant that she was taking a biological medication and as a result was immunocompromised and requested an accommodation or to retain the lower contact roles she had been previously assigned to.
In her complaint, the plaintiff accuses the defendant of failing to meaningfully engage in the accommodation discussion. The plaintiff was later terminated as the facility indicated that it did not have any lower contact roles available, even though the lower contact role the plaintiff had previously been employed in was available.
The plaintiff is suing for disability discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. The plaintiff is represented by Fitzgerald Law, PLLC.
