Lawsuits filed on behalf of former Eureka Springs Hospital CEO Angie Shaw and former ESH Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Petrino against the hospital, and six members of the hospital commission, allege that the women were fired in early November as retaliation for reporting violations of the city’s Unlawful Harassment Policy and Violence in the Workplace Policy by Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Asbury.
The lawsuit states that Hospital Commission Chair Kent Turner and Vice-chair Barbara Dicks should have recused themselves from the termination votes due to a conflict of interest. Shaw and Petrino had complained that Turner and Dicks violated workplace violence and unlawful harassment laws, and that Dicks violated patient privacy laws. The lawsuits state there was no legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for their firings.
The Complaints for Wrongful Discharge lawsuits were filed Dec. 6 in the Circuit Court of Carroll County, Civil Division, by attorney Gregory F. Payne of Rogers. Defendants include the hospital and Kent Turner, David Carlisle, Sharon Deramus, Kate Dryer, Sandy Martin and Brian Beyler in their official capacity as members of the hospital commission. Dicks, who resigned recently at the request of Mayor Butch Berry, was not named in the lawsuit.
The complaint states that the city’s Unlawful Harassment Policy prohibits “any form of inappropriate physical, verbal or visual behavior that singles out an employee, to that employees’ objection or detriment.” The Harassment Policy states that all employees are encouraged to report any concerns of potential harassment or retaliation, and managers are required to report all actual or potential issues of harassment or retaliation. Both Shaw and Petrino were managers.
The lawsuit states that the hospital also has a Violence in the Workplace policy that prohibits causing physical injury to another person, making threatening remarks, acting out in an aggressive or hostile manner, subjecting other people to emotional distress and retaliation against an employee who reports or participates in the investigation of any employee conduct.
Petrino’s lawsuit states she sent a letter Oct. 25, 2024, to her immediate supervisor, Shaw, detailing employee complaints about harassment by Asbury that included confronting the dietary director while chastising her in an inappropriate manner in a loud voice while slamming one fist into an open palm in an intimidating fashion, and yelling at several members of the staff in such a manner that they were driven to tears. After one such event Asbury was heard telling Turner that she “made someone cry and didn’t care at all.” The complaint states that Asbury bullied and instilled fear in a number of employees including Petrino. The complaint letter stated the incidents were ignored by Human Resources Director Jodi Edmonson, who was named interim CEO after Shaw was fired.
Turner and Dicks were meeting regularly with hospital employees in violation of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act that forbids commissioners discussing business except at open public meetings. The lawsuit states that during a meeting with staff including Petrino, Turner in anger “slammed his fists into the table, became red-faced, and yelled” at employees, which is prohibited conduct under the Violence in Workplace policy. Petrino said she also learned that Dicks was watching security footage of the hospital from her home, an alleged violation of the HIPAA federal patient privacy laws.
Shaw’s lawsuit states that while she wasn’t present at the Turner meeting described by Petrino, Shaw said the behavior of Turner was consistent with his behavior from previous meetings where she was present when he became unreasonably angry with staff, raised his voice and his face turned red from anger.
On October 25, a group of hospital employees led by Shaw and Petrino met with Turner to present the grievances outlined above as well as allegations that the CFO was using a recording device hidden inside her eyeglasses when interacting with staff which necessarily disclosed protected private health information. After Shaw was fired Nov. 1, a group of 12 employees wrote a three-page letter addressing numerous complaints about Asbury and Edmondson, and asked for Shaw to be reinstated.
The letter stated that Asbury has demonstrated erratic behavior and physical intimidation of staff that resulted in a fear of harassment and bodily harm; staff lost confidence in Edmondson after repeated breaches of confidentiality; staff have been repeatedly retaliated against by both Asbury and Edmondson; dozens of staff have resigned and/or been terminated due solely to Asbury’s treatment of them or through the wrath of her retaliation; Asbury makes clinical decisions and ignores comments or concerns of clinical staff. The complaints apparently had little impact on the commission other than Asbury being placed on a six-month employee improvement plan.
On Nov. 4, Petrino was fired. Neither Petrino nor Shaw had prior disciplinary actions on their record, and neither was allowed to defend herself to the commission before being fired. The hospital commission discussed the personnel issues in closed sessions and has not identified a reason for the firings. Both women allege their discharge was wrongful as retaliatory for reporting violations.
Petrino’s lawsuit alleges the Commissioner Kate Dryer came to the hospital on Nov. 4 before the commission took action and told ER Manager Joy Kennedy to report her duties to Asbury.
“The fact that Hospital Commissioner Kate Dryer told one of the Plaintiff’s direct reports to report further activity to the CFO evidences foreknowledge and previous discussion of hospital business by members of the Hospital Commission outside of public meetings in violation of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act that requires such business to be conducted in public, i.e., that Plaintiff was to be terminated later during their special meeting.”
The day Petrino was fired, Kennedy reported being bullied by Dicks, and Kennedy left her job at the hospital leaving it shorthanded for clinical nurse managers. Laboratory Director Tina Adams left a couple of weeks later leaving a critical position vacant.
The firings and resignations occurred at the same time that the Arkansas Department of Health was doing a Medicare audit. Petrino was working on that when she was fired and escorted off the hospital grounds. The loss of the top clinical staff reportedly left no one with the knowledge about how to provide the correct information to ADH, which resulted in concerns being identified that the hospital must address by mid-January in order to continue receiving Medicare reimbursements.
The hospital commission held another special meeting Dec. 2 to hire a Little Rock attorney to help draft a corrective action plan. Previously that type of plan would have been prepared by the CEO and CNO. That meeting was audio recorded. After the meeting adjourned, commissioners continued to discuss hospital business in violation of the FOIA. One thing discussed was that Turner and Martin have been taking patient blood samples for testing at Mercy Hospital in Berryville. Arkansas regulations require an onsite laboratory at hospitals. In some cases, such as with strokes and heart attacks, testing is urgent to identify the correct treatment for the condition to save lives.
Shaw’s lawsuit requests payment of her $145,800 annual salary, sick leave and vacation benefits and attorney’s fees. Petrino is asking the payment of her $95,000 annual salary, sick leave and vacation benefits, and attorney’s fees. As an alternative, both seek reinstatement to their previous jobs at the hospital.