By Abigail Roberts
A Kentucky health system is paying $335,000 to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
It was around Oct. 2021 when Shannon Long alleges she was rejected by Ephraim McDowell for a promotion to an administrator position at the Fort Logan Hospital. The CEO allegedly told Long “men work better with men” and “it was best to have a male in the position.”
The CEO instead appointed a male to the administrator position and Long to a lower-paying position, under which she would be reporting to the newly-promoted male.
“The EEOC further charged that, after the female employee filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC, Ephraim McDowell retaliated against her by firing her in Dec. 2022,” the EEOC press release states.
This week, the EEOC announced Nov. 21 that Ephraim McDowell Health, Inc., Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, Inc., and EMHFL, Inc., a health care system headquartered in Danville, Kentucky, will pay $335,000 and provide other relief to settle the lawsuit.
“We appreciate Ephraim McDowell for working with us to resolve this litigation and agreeing to implement changes to prevent future hiring violations,” said EEOC Indianapolis Regional Attorney Kenneth Bird. “These steps demonstrate a commitment to achieving a workplace free from discrimination and retaliation.”
The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex-based discrimination and retaliation against employees for filing discrimination charges with the EEOC. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC vs. Ephraim McDowell Health, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 5:24-cv-00084) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Central Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The health system has agreed to pay the $335,000 in monetary relief and provide other injunctive and affirmative relief.
The two-year decree also requires Ephraim McDowell to provide equal employment opportunity training, provide annual reports to the EEOC regarding its compliance with the decree, and a post a notice about employees’ rights under federal law.
Long said Monday she is relieved that it is over and she is ready to move on from it all.
“It has been very stressful,” she said.
Long, who has been practicing midwifery, is currently back in school now to become a nurse-midwife so she will have the option to deliver in hospitals, as well as in homes.
“I just ask for peace from God and know it’s time to move on,” she said. “People say stuff to me like, ‘you should’ve gotten more money,’ but it was never about the money. It was about doing the right thing. You can’t continue to let people do this to women, or anybody, any kind of discrimination.”
