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Cedar Hills Hospital Faces Lawsuits From Former Employees 

In separate lawsuits, two employees allege the psychiatric hospital in Portland was a hostile work environment for gay people.
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SHUTTERSTOCK
May 5, 2022

(This article has been edited to incorporate additional reporting.)

A former military liaison at Cedar Hills Hospital in Portland is suing his former employer, alleging his supervisor sexually harassed him repeatedly and created a hostile work environment.

The lawsuit is one of two federal cases pending in Oregon that claim the hospital operates a discriminatory workplace that is hostile for LGBTQ+ people. 

Dr. Lisa Steele, CEO of the hospital, declined to comment on both cases.

The company that owns the hospital, UBH of Oregon, LLC, is itself owned by Universal Health Services, which made news earlier this year when it withdrew a long-running bid to open a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in Wilsonville.

Ian Michael, the former employee, filed the most recent lawsuit last week in the Portland division of U.S. District Court against the hospital and UBH of Oregon. In the lawsuit, Michael identifies as a gay male U.S. Marine Corps veteran and alleges he experienced repeated advances from his supervisor, the hospital’s director of business development.

The plaintiff started to work at the 98-bed psychiatric hospital in December 2019. The suit incorrecly identifies the manager in question as “Michael Sorenson,” but a Linkedin page confirms the spelling is “Sorensen.”

Sorensen is well known in the health policy advocacy community, and some sources told The Lund Report that the allegations don't sound like him.

“I’ve known and worked with Michael in several capacities for many years, and he is just a great man who I can’t imagine any of this being true,” said Mary Lou Hennrich, a board member of Health Care for All Oregon,

Hennrich served as assistant director of the Multnomah County Health Department in the early 1990s when Sorensen, an employee there, spearheaded a local effort to provide health care to low-income people. More recently she worked with him when he was interim executive director for Health Care For All Oregon.

“There’s never been an inkling of anything like this,” Hennrich said.

The court records do not include a response from Sorensen. He declined to provide a comment for this article.

The lawsuit claims that during Michael’s one-week orientation, Sorensen asked him out for drinks or dinner each evening. Michael declined those, allegedly prompting Sorensen to remark “I would not have hired you if I knew you weren’t a team player."

The lawsuit makes a number of other allegations:

  • Sorensen invited Michael to a gay strip club at least four times.
  • During Michael’s first month at the hospital, while the two were in a car on a work errand, Sorensen talked about how his ex-boyfriend does not have sex with him anymore, and told Michael that he probably doesn’t have that problem. 
  • Sorensen invited Michael to go on a trip with him for the manager’s birthday, which Michael declined to go on.
  • Sorensen sent text messages to Michael saying “XO,” apparently signifying hugs and kisses, and once texted Michael “love you.”
  • After Zoom meetings ended, Sorensen allegedly called Michael and said he looked lonely or sad and offered to come over to keep him company.

In another instance, Sorensen allegedly invited Michael out for drinks with co-workers. When Michael showed up, only his boss was there, who allegedly asked him if he was dating anyone, the lawsuit says. The next day, Michael asked his co-workers why they weren’t there and they said no one invited them, the lawsuit says.

In June 2020, Michael reported to the hospital’s human resources department about the alleged harassment and said his boss’s treatment triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder, the lawsuit says.

Michael received a negative performance evaluation in July 2020, which he alleges is retaliation, the lawsuit says.

He received leave from work in September 2020 due to the stress and anxiety of the working situation with his boss, the lawsuit says.

In November 2020, the hospital’s human resources manager sent Michael a letter stating that “all leadership will receive ongoing training including additional sexual harassment prevention training,” according to court records.

But Michael learned he would have to work with the same boss and he resigned in January 2021, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine damages, including for sex discrimination, a hostile work environment and lost wages and benefits.

The lawsuit also alleges the hospital tried to interfere with Michael when he took medical leave, which is protected under federal law.

Michael is represented by Baker Law PC of Portland, which also filed an earlier case against Cedar Hills.

Before filing the lawsuit, Michael’s lawyer filed a civil rights complaint with the state Bureau of Labor and Industries on Sept. 17, 2020. Complainants have the option of letting the agencies complete an investigation and issue a finding or to pull it before a finding is made, allowing a lawsuit to be filed. In this case. Michael’s lawyer sent an email to pull the complaint on January 31, 2022, before the agency finished investigating.

Records obtained from the agency show that before Michael ended the investigaion, the agency did interview Michael as well as two managers at the hospital. Michael told the investigator that he knew Sorensen prior to working for him; they worked out at the same gym, and then later knew each other from a gay bar that Michael had opened. However, Michael “denies any prior relationship,” according to an interview summary.

Polly Constantini, a human resources manager for the company, told the investigator that Sorensen “was written up in December 2020… The corrective action called for additional training.” She said the company’s CEO, Lamar Frizell, decided Sorensen’s conduct did not warrant termination.

Frizzell, meanwhile, told the investigators the company's internal investigation suggested “concerning” behavior but could not substantiate that any “overtures” were made or “real sexual lines” were crossed, according to the investigator's summary of the interview.

Sorensen was not interviewed as part of the agency's investigation.

Other Lawsuit Remains Open

In January 2021, Tonya Tucker Tafolla, a former nurse manager, sued the hospital in federal court, alleging a racist and hostile work environment. Tucker Tafolla, who identifies as a Black, African American lesbian female in the court filing, alleged she heard a variety of discriminatory comments based on her race and sexual orientation.

The suit lists numerous allegations of racist and other discriminatory remarks. Among them:

  • When staff took a group employee photo of the leadership team, Tucker Tafolla and another employee who is a person of color were at the edge of the group. Her boss, chief nursing officer Jennifer Brown, allegedly said “minorities were on the end so they could be easily cropped out.” 
  • A manager asked her to sit in when a person of color was terminated. After the manager yelled at the employee and fired them, the boss told Tucker Tafolla: “It looks better; she’ll probably claim discrimination.”
  • When the plaintiff hired four female nurses who had blonde hair during her last two months there, the chief nursing officer allegedly said: “Tonya must be attracted to blondes” or similar words.

The lawsuit alleges Brown, the chief nursing officer, would frequently yell at employees and threaten to fire them. Other employees reported concerns to a corporate compliance line, the lawsuit alleges, including one that said:  “Please help us in Oregon. They’re out of control.” 

When human resources printed out the complaints and gave them to Brown, the lawsuit says, she allegedly said: “They’re right, I’m out of control. I’ll fire you all!” 

In January 2021 Tucker Tafolla gave notice, prompting a meeting with management where she outlined her experiences and said things needed to change, according to the suit. She said Brown’s treatment of her then changed, and not long after that fired her, citing Taffola’s “attitude” for asking when a schedule change had been announced.

That case remains open, with arbitration pending.

You can reach Ben Botkin at [email protected] or via Twitter @BenBotkin1.

 

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