A former employee of Ballard Health from Scott County, Virginia filed a lawsuit worth $3 million against the company, alleging the healthcare organization wrongfully terminated her after she blew the whistle on internal wrongdoing. The $3 million figure includes $1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.
Case background
According to the information in the lawsuit filed by Sabrina Gray, she worked at Holston Valley Medical Center in February 2012 until April 2019 as a registered nurse in the hospital’s cardiovascular surgery department. At one point, one of the pure heart operating rooms was converted into a hybrid room in which multiple cardiovascular procedures could be performed. Gray says this resulted in more work coming to her and her coworkers, all of whom quickly become overworked as a result of the greater caseload. She was forced to deal with argumentative staff over the issue inside and outside of the operating room.
Gray had been scheduled to receive a two percent pay raise in January 2019, but only received a lump sum increase instead. In February, she spoke out about the activities taken by the hospital that she claimed violated the COPA while at a public meeting at Northeast State Community College. She was later terminated from her position in April after an outburst.
Gray claims the hospital’s actions in terminating her violate the Tennessee Whistleblower Act. The hospital has not released any comment on the contention.
For more information about the steps you should take if you become aware of wrongdoing within your healthcare agency, contact an experienced whistleblower lawyer at Kardell Law Group.
