Fired Nurse Wins $20 Million in Race Discrimination Action

Many people believe that high performers in the workplace are immune from discrimination and other forms of job-related mistreatment. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Even employees who have earned awards and praise from the people they serve are frequently the victims of bias. Recently in Colorado, a nurse who was fired won a huge verdict in a racial discrimination case against her former employer.

DonQuenick Yvonne Joppy was awarded $20 million in a lawsuit she brought against HCA-HealthOne LLC. Her complaint alleged that she was subjected to a series of denigrating comments and actions because she is Black. This was despite the fact that the American Heart Association conferred an Excellence Award upon Joppy for saving a patient’s life, and her status as a three-time nominee for the Daisy award, an international prize acknowledging nurses of exceptional skill and compassion. Patients frequently communicated their appreciation for the care Joppy provided. 

On the other hand, according to Joppy’s complaint, supervising nurses routinely screamed at her, assigned her a tougher workload than White colleagues, and isolated her, presumably to persuade her to leave the job. She reported what she was experiencing to the hospital’s human resources department, but nothing improved. Co-workers shunned her, and she was told she lacked the thinking and organizational skills to receive training on how to treat a heart patient. A supervisor said because Joppy was so good at cleaning, she should “clean [his] house and clip [his] dog’s toenails.” 

When Joppy attempted to transfer to a different unit, she was told this was impossible, because she was on a performance improvement plan. This was the first she had heard of that, and her immediate supervisor was not aware of it either. Joppy alleged this was a means of unlawful retaliation for her complaints. 

Joppy was terminated after she was blamed for the death of a 94-year-old patient. Beyond that, hospital employees referred the case to prosecutors who brought felony charges against her, including Negligence Resulting in Death. The State of Colorado dismissed the case against her “in the interests of justice,” but the termination and publicity surrounding the criminal allegations might have possibly permanently destroyed Joppy’s ability to earn a living in nursing.  In her civil lawsuit verdict, the jury agreed that Joppy was the victim of both unlawful race discrimination and retaliation, awarding her $5 million in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages. 

Don’t let supervisors or employers get away with discriminatory acts that can harm your reputation and financial well-being. The Joppy case shows that justice is possible with strong legal support. Kardell Law Group will take the time to listen to your story and will fight for appropriate compensation if something illegal occurred.