LAB AT CENTRE OF BOTCHED SMEAR SUED BY EX EMPLOYEES SEVEN TIMES

THE medical laboratory that camto ta €2.5million settlement with Vicky Phelan this week after it botched her smear test has been sued by former employees at least seven times si nce 2011, according USfederal court filings.

US-based lawsuits against Clinical Pathology Laboratories Inc have been filed in multiple states, including Oklahoma, Nevada, and the company’s home operation in Texas. The lawsuits cover a range of wrongful termination claims, from sexual harassment to racial discrimination to being denied medical or family leave. In every case, according to court records, the company denied allegations made by former employees but settled the lawsuits without admitting guilt.

One lawsuit filed in 2016 alleged that a female employee working as a client service specialist in a Nevada lab was continually harassed by a manager and passed up for promotions because of her gender. The harassment, according to the lawsuit, included a manager making foul comments about her appearance, along with calling her an ‘old lady’ and saying she had ‘man hands’.

The lawsuit claims the woman quit because she ‘had enough of the harassment and bullying, and knew that this kind of conduct would continue to go on.’ The lawsuit was settled in March 2017.

Another employee in a Nevada-based lab filed a lawsuit the same year, claiming that as a sales executive for the company he was harassed by his manager. That allegedly included explicit language like ‘Go f*** yourself,’ the lawsuit says. The employee was later fired after reporting the behaviour, according to the lawsuit. A deal was reached in mediation. None of the settlement terms in the employee lawsuits are public.

However, at least one medical lawsuit resulted in a substantial financial ruling. In 2010, a Texas woman sued the company after claiming she was injured by an employee drawing blood from her arm. According to VerdictSearch Texas, a judge ordered the company to pay more than $700,000 (€578,000) in damages. The company did not return a request for comment.

Robert Michel, the founder and editorin chief of the Dark Report, a publication that focuses on the business and management of medical laboratories, said Clinical Pathology Laboratories and its parent company, Sonic Healthcare, are no more litigation prone than any of their comparatively sized lab competitors.