A former Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation Center employee has filed suit against the facility’s parent company, Kindred Nursing Centers, for wrongful termination.
Deshanna Baker filed suit June 1 in Clark Circuit Court, claiming race discrimination and retaliation after she reported alleged misconduct by another employee.
According to the complaint, Baker was repeatedly harrassed because of her race. Although the actions were reported, Baker said no disiciplinary action was taken. After reporting that a co-worker overheard another employee refuse to care for a patient, and use a racial slur, she began to experience retaliation, Baker said. According to the complaint, she “began to suffer disciplinary actions to which other non-African American co-workers were not subject to.”
Baker was hired as a licensed practical nurse Aug. 8, 2009, and was employed by Fountain Circle until March 4, 2011. The official reason for termination, according to nursing home documents, was failure to change a patient’s tracheotomy dressing. At approximately 8 a.m. March 2, 2011, a respiratory therapist reported that a resident’s tracheotomy dressing did not look like it had been changed during the night shift, the document stated. Company policy states tracheotomy dressings are supposed to be changed every shift. Baker claims she was not working when the incident allegedly occurred, but was notified via telephone March 2 that an investigation was conducted and she was suspended.
