Here are three cases of physicians suing their former employers Becker's ASC Review has covered since March 27:
1. Family physician Matthew Heckman, MD, is suing Pittsburgh-based UPMC for alleged wrongful termination. Dr. Heckman is a former employee of Wellsboro, Pa.-based Laurel Health Centers, a subsidiary of UPMC Wellsboro.
The suit alleges that Dr. Heckman was fired because of his role as a "whistleblower" — he alleged UPMC Wellsboro and Laurel Health Systems attempted to apply for COVID-19 funding by falsely claiming North Penn Health Services was not a subsidiary of UPMC.
2. New York physician Leigh Ann Hutchinson, MD, is suing her former employer South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for decades of discrimination. She alleges the discrimination she faced at the Northwell Health hospital resulted in a yearly income loss of roughly $900,000 since 2004.
Dr. Hutchinson, the only Black electrophysiologist at the hospital, first joined South Shore in 1999 before becoming the founder and director of the hospital's electrophysiology lab. The impact on her income began after she was placed under hospital review following the death of a patient after surgery in July 2004, the report said.
Both the hospital panel and one convened by Dr. Hutchinson found Dr. Hutchinson's actions complied with hospital policy, and the hospital placed her on a three-month probation. However, the lawsuit alleges the hospital continued to block her from performing non-complex procedures after the probation period ended.
3. Samer Ilayan, MD, is suing Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.-based health system Corewell Health for alleged religious discrimination. He alleges in the lawsuit that Corewell's Beaumont Athens Clinic in Taylor, Mich., wrongfully terminated him after denying his requests for five-minute daily breaks for prayer and time on Fridays to attend weekly prayers.
A spokesperson for Corewell Health sent a statement on the lawsuit to WXYZ, saying, "The allegations in Dr. Ilayan's lawsuit are false. During Dr. Ilayan's employment, he requested and received religious accommodation for time in his schedule dedicated to prayer. We are committed to providing reasonable workplace accommodations whenever possible for religious beliefs and practices."