Iowa physician Amanda Moreno, DO, has sued her former employer Mahaska Health Partnership for alleged discrimination, according to an April 19 report from the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Dr. Moreno claims in the lawsuit she was fired from Makasha Health Hospital in Oskaloosa by administrators who retaliated against female employees and employees who did not share their religious and political beliefs.
The defendants listed in the lawsuit include the health system's CEO, the hospital's chief medical officer, select members of the board of trustees and the hospital's medical director, who also served as an emergency room physician.
In addition to seeking damages for gender and religious discrimination and retaliation, the lawsuit also alleges two of the defendants created a PowerPoint presentation on why attending physicians should vote for a certain presidential candidate.
The lawsuit also alleges the emergency room physician prayed with patients, with two of them directly complaining to Dr. Moreno.
Dr. Moreno joined Makasha Health in 2013 as an emergency room physician and was served with a termination notice Oct. 1, 2021, as were two of her female colleagues in the department. The terminated physicians allegedly were replaced by a general surgeon with no emergency room experience.
Read more on the lawsuit here.