An Iowa physician claims in a lawsuit that she was fired from a public hospital by administrators who encouraged employees to vote for Donald Trump and discriminated against those who didn’t share their religious beliefs.
Dr. Amanda Moreno alleges in her lawsuit that while working for Mahaska County’s public hospital in Oskaloosa, she was “harassed, belittled, reprimanded, humiliated, excluded, terminated, and retaliated against all because she is a woman and she is atheist.”
She is suing the Mahaska Health Partnership, the legal entity that operates Mahaska Health hospital. Also named as defendants are CEO Kevin DeRonde; Dr. David Cornelder, an emergency room physician and the hospital’s medical director; Dr. Timothy Breon, the chief medical officer of the hospital; and select members of the Mahaska Health Board of Trustees.
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Moreno began working for the hospital in February 2013 as an emergency room physician, a position she retained for the next eight years. DeRonde was appointed CEO of the hospital in February 2018.
Moreno alleges DeRonde, Breon and Cornelder “have a history of taking discriminatory acts against female employees and those that do not share their religious faith and political views,” and that their goal was to replace female employees with males who shared their religious beliefs and political opinions.
DeRonde and Breon, according to the lawsuit, often spoke about religion and “pushed their religious ideas and practices onto employees.” The two would allegedly “testify” at executive team member meetings and told the entire executive team that they were chosen by the hand of God to lead the hospital.
Breon allegedly insisted on praying with patients, two of whom complained to Moreno. At one leadership meeting, DeRonde and Breon allegedly created a PowerPoint presentation about why the attending members needed to vote for Donald Trump for president.
In the fall of 2021, the Emergency Medicine Department at the hospital had five physicians: four females and the recently hired Cornelder.
On Oct. 1 of that year, the hospital served Moreno and two of her female colleagues with termination notices, stating that their employment contracts would end in 90 days.
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Moreno contacted the Iowa Freedom of Information Council to obtain assistance in obtaining Board of Trustee meeting minutes. In November 2021, she was suspended, which, she alleges, was the first time she had ever faced disciplinary action from the hospital.
To replace the fired female physicians, DeRonde, Cornelder and Breon allegedly hired a male general surgeon, Dr. Chris Martin, who had no emergency room experience. According to the lawsuit, Moreno and others warned hospital administrators that Martin “was unqualified to be an emergency room physician and posed a serious danger to patients.”
On Oct. 7, 2021, the trustees allegedly called DeRonde before them to explain why there was a firing of female emergency room physicians and why the new hires did not appear to have the appropriate qualifications for their jobs. “There were also concerns raised that DeRonde (was) having an intimate relationship with another employee and hiring his wife for a position that she was not qualified for,” the lawsuit claims.
DeRonde submitted his resignation before the meeting could be held, which the board accepted. Within days, a petition to rehire DeRonde was circulated in the community and on Oct. 15, 2021, the trustees voted to reinstate him as CEO. At the same time, three hospital trustees submitted their resignations, citing concerns with “disturbing abuses” at the hospital, such as jobs being eliminated without cause and other staff members being given duties “with no ability or training to handle their assignments.”
Moreno’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks unspecified damages for gender and religious discrimination and retaliation. The hospital has yet to file a response. Mahaska Health referred all questions on the matter to of the hospital’s attorneys, who could not be reached for comment.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Dr. Amanda Moreno alleges in her lawsuit that while working for Mahaska County’s public hospital in Oskaloosa, she was “harassed, belittled, reprimanded, humiliated, excluded, terminated, and retaliated against all because she is a woman and she is atheist.”
She is suing the Mahaska Health Partnership, the legal entity that operates Mahaska Health hospital. Also named as defendants are CEO Kevin DeRonde; Dr. David Cornelder, an emergency room physician and the hospital’s medical director; Dr. Timothy Breon, the chief medical officer of the hospital; and select members of the Mahaska Health Board of Trustees.
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Moreno began working for the hospital in February 2013 as an emergency room physician, a position she retained for the next eight years. DeRonde was appointed CEO of the hospital in February 2018.
Moreno alleges DeRonde, Breon and Cornelder “have a history of taking discriminatory acts against female employees and those that do not share their religious faith and political views,” and that their goal was to replace female employees with males who shared their religious beliefs and political opinions.
DeRonde and Breon, according to the lawsuit, often spoke about religion and “pushed their religious ideas and practices onto employees.” The two would allegedly “testify” at executive team member meetings and told the entire executive team that they were chosen by the hand of God to lead the hospital.
Breon allegedly insisted on praying with patients, two of whom complained to Moreno. At one leadership meeting, DeRonde and Breon allegedly created a PowerPoint presentation about why the attending members needed to vote for Donald Trump for president.
In the fall of 2021, the Emergency Medicine Department at the hospital had five physicians: four females and the recently hired Cornelder.
On Oct. 1 of that year, the hospital served Moreno and two of her female colleagues with termination notices, stating that their employment contracts would end in 90 days.
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Moreno contacted the Iowa Freedom of Information Council to obtain assistance in obtaining Board of Trustee meeting minutes. In November 2021, she was suspended, which, she alleges, was the first time she had ever faced disciplinary action from the hospital.
To replace the fired female physicians, DeRonde, Cornelder and Breon allegedly hired a male general surgeon, Dr. Chris Martin, who had no emergency room experience. According to the lawsuit, Moreno and others warned hospital administrators that Martin “was unqualified to be an emergency room physician and posed a serious danger to patients.”
On Oct. 7, 2021, the trustees allegedly called DeRonde before them to explain why there was a firing of female emergency room physicians and why the new hires did not appear to have the appropriate qualifications for their jobs. “There were also concerns raised that DeRonde (was) having an intimate relationship with another employee and hiring his wife for a position that she was not qualified for,” the lawsuit claims.
DeRonde submitted his resignation before the meeting could be held, which the board accepted. Within days, a petition to rehire DeRonde was circulated in the community and on Oct. 15, 2021, the trustees voted to reinstate him as CEO. At the same time, three hospital trustees submitted their resignations, citing concerns with “disturbing abuses” at the hospital, such as jobs being eliminated without cause and other staff members being given duties “with no ability or training to handle their assignments.”
Moreno’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks unspecified damages for gender and religious discrimination and retaliation. The hospital has yet to file a response. Mahaska Health referred all questions on the matter to of the hospital’s attorneys, who could not be reached for comment.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
