If one thing the recent protests raging across the country has shown us, its that racism is still an important issue that warrants immediate attention. It’s something that many people have to deal with on a daily basis, sometimes just during a quick trip to the store, and other times in their jobs. For example, an employee at Prisma Health recently filed a lawsuit against the healthcare network over allegations of racial and sexual discrimination, defamation, and retaliation. 

Discrimination graphic; image courtesy of kalhh via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court back on May 1. In it, Tiara McGee, a black woman working for the healthcare facility in Greenville County, claims she was discriminated against while she worked as a unit secretary. When commenting on her experiences and the environment at Prisma Health, McGee said “she wants the individuals responsible for ensuring that employees work in an environment that is free from harassment and discrimination are held accountable for turning a blind eye to my numerous complaints.” What happened, exactly? What sort of discrimination did she face? For starters, McGee alleges that a “white female coworker in a supervisory position over her flashed her bare breasts at her in June 2019.” Additionally, the suit claims when McGee reported the incident, “no appropriate action commensurate with the conduct was taken by Prisma Health.” To make matters worse, McGee alleges that after reporting the incident, she continued to suffer “a relentless series of retaliatory and targeted conduct toward her and that she was shunned by the Unit Nursing team starting immediately after she made her complaint.” Additionally, she was allegedly “falsely accused of threatening a coworker,” and even as she continued to report instances of discrimination and retaliation, she continued to be the “victim of targeted discrimination from her white female coworkers.” She said amid it all, “Prisma failed to take remedial action to address her reports.”As a result of the alleged discrimination and retaliation, McGee has suffered “both economic and non-economic damages.” The suit further states:“Prisma has intentionally failed to schedule McGee to work and been told not to report to work, despite that Prisma is understaffed for McGee’s position and other individuals in McGee’s role are working extra shifts.”So far, Prisma Health has pushed back against the allegations and said McGee “voluntarily requested to transition from a full-time schedule to a PRN (as-needed) schedule, and that change became effective on September 22, 2019.” When commenting on the lawsuit, McGee’s attorney, Shannon Polvi, said:“We hope that we can create a remedy for Ms. McGee. This type of hostile work environment and hostile retaliation, action should be taken by the employer and to date has not been."

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Prisma Health employee alleges racial, sexual discrimination, by health care networkPrisma Health employee sues network, alleges racial and sexual discrimination