A physician has filed a lawsuit alleging that executives at an Iowa hospital discriminated against those who do not share their religious beliefs and political views, according to court documents accessed by Becker's.
Amanda Moreno, DO, a woman and an atheist, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed April 17 in federal court. Mahaska Health Partnership, which operates Oskaloosa-based Mahaska Health hospital, is named as a defendant. CEO Kevin DeRonde; David Cornelder, DO, the hospital's emergency room medical director; Timothy Breon, MD, the chief medical officer of the hospital; and select members of the hospital board are also named as defendants.
"Mahaska Health has been providing quality and compassionate medical care to the citizens of rural Iowa for nearly 116 years," the law firm representing the hospital said in a statement shared with Becker's. "Mahaska Health declines to comment on the specifics of [Dr.] Moreno's claim due to the pending litigation. However, Mahaska Health denies the allegations that have been made against it and intends to firmly defend the litigation. Mahaska Health is confident the pending litigation will be appropriately resolved through the legal process."
Dr. Moreno said in the lawsuit she began working at the hospital in February 2013 as an emergency room physician and continued working there for eight years. Mr. DeRonde joined Mahaska Health as CEO in February 2018. He resigned in 2021 and was later reinstated after the circulation of a petition supporting his return. Several board members submitted their resignations in light of the reinstatement, according to Dr. Moreno's lawsuit.
Dr. Moreno alleges Dr. Breon, Mr. DeRonde and Dr. Cornelder "have a history of taking discriminatory acts against female employees and those that do not share their religious faith and political views. Their goal was to replace the current female employees with male employees who share their religious beliefs and political opinions."
She also alleges that Mr. DeRonde and Dr. Breon "often spoke about religion and pushed their religious ideas and practices onto employees. Their religious beliefs informed their political ideology."
At one leadership meeting, defendants created a PowerPoint presentation about why the attendees needed to vote for former President Donald Trump, her lawsuit claims.
In October 2021, the emergency medicine department had five physicians: four women and Dr. Cornelder, according to the lawsuit. Dr. Moreno said she and two of her female colleagues were served with termination notices in October 2021, stating that their employment contract would end Dec. 31, 2021.
Dr. Moreno claims that in November 2021, she "was unfairly and unlawfully suspended" and that, in her and the other female physicians' place, the hospital hired a male general surgeon without emergency room experience.
Dr. Moreno seeks unspecified damages related to the alleged religious discrimination and retaliation.