A paramedic has filed a federal lawsuit for $1.5 million accusing the Morrow County Health District of “flagantly unlawful” termination.
The suit filed in Pendleton on behalf of Samantha Ward claims the district that includes Pioneer Memorial Hospital fired her because she’d sued her previous employer for retaliation and sexual harassment.
The suit claims Ward had been helping a Morrow County subordinate who’d complained of gender discrimination when a union official at the hospital emailed then-CEO Emily Reynolds warning that Ward was “sue happy.” Shortly thereafter, Ward was fired.
Ward’s lawyers said in the complaint that her previous employer, Benton County (Wash.,) Fire District No. 1, settled her earlier suit for $540,000.
The Morrow County district has not yet formally responded to the allegations. Longtime hospital executive Dennis Burke, who was named interim chief executive of the Morrow County Health District last month, said Tuesday he was unaware of Ward’s claims and is unable to comment.
The suit represents just the latest chapter in the stormy history of the district, which operates the 21-bed hospital as well as clinics in Heppner, Ione, Irrigon and Boardman.
The district has been at the center of controversies in the rural northeastern Oregon county, including a long-running dispute about whether it would continue to provide ambulance coverage for some or all of the county.
At one point, the health district sued Morrow County and the Boardman, Ore., fire department. Eventually, the health district signed a five-year contract to provide ambulance service in two Morrow County service areas.
Not long afterward, and soon after Ward was fired, posters calling for locals to “Stop Emily Reynolds” began appearing in Heppner, according to an account in the East Oregonian. Among the charges was that Reynolds should be prevented from “firing good local employees,” the newspaper said.
Reynolds told residents at a March 31 meeting that she would step down as chief executive of the health district. Reynolds cited a proliferation of anonymous criticisms that caused her to fear for her family’s safety.
The posters were denounced by the chair of the health district’s board, who called them “shocking” and an act of “cruelty.” And Reynolds told the newspaper “recent actions by certain community members have crossed boundaries that challenge both decency and legality. These actions have ultimately led to my decision to step down.”
Last summer, nurses and technicians at Pioneer Memorial voted to unionize, saying the hospital was inadequately staffed and hospital managers applied discipline harshly and inconsistently. “They make rules up as they go,” a nurse leading the union effort told Oregon Public Broadcasting.
In the new suit, Ward’s lawyers said she had “a spotless record with no disciplinary actions or counseling” while working at the health district. When she sought an explanation for her dismissal, a hospital human relations official said “we have determined you are not the right fit,” according to the lawsuit.
The suit said former colleagues and others emailed Ward’s former manager, expressing shock and dismay about her firing. One of them reportedly was Thomas Roberts, the Irrigon Rural Fire Protection District Chief, who emailed Reynolds that Ward was a “ROCKSTAR” who showed leadership and skill. Roberts said he had recently promoted Ward to captain of the Irrigon Rural Fire Protection District.
