Black ex-employee at hospital sues over masking

A Black ex-employee at Monongahela Valley Hospital says he was fired on racial grounds because the hospital said he wore the wrong COVID-19 mask during the pandemic while white employees wore theirs incorrectly or not at all without repercussions.

Garnett Henderson, of Donora, said in the federal suit that he was singled out for harassment because of his mask choice and effectively terminated in September 2020. Mr. Henderson was hired as a therapeutic recreation specialist in 2000 but said he was repeatedly passed over for promotions despite a satisfactory performance over the years.

The crux of his complaint focuses on his choice of COVID-19 protection — the N-95 mask approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. When the pandemic began, he said he wore that mask for six months before anyone raised an issue with it.

But in August 2020, according to the complaint, nurse manager John Bogden demanded Mr. Henderson wear a hospital-approved surgical mask and told him to speak with the

employee health nurse about his choice of mask. The health nurse said his mask was OK, and he told Mr. Bogden that, but Mr. Bogden said he wasn’t satisfied, nor was vice president of nursing, Sherry Watkins, the suit said.

“Ms. Watkins repeatedly questioned and harassed Mr. Henderson for his choice of mask while allowing Mr. Henderson’s Caucasian counterparts to either go without a mask entirely or wear masks improperly around the chin or neck,” the complaint states.

Mr. Henderson said he was harassed by the staff for his mask choice and became alienated from his co-workers and targeted as the “joke of the workplace.” On Aug. 24, 2020, Mr. Henderson said, he was ordered to undergo a “mask fit test” by the employee health nurse to see if his mask was effective. He was told it was effective. Even so, he said, the next day Ms. Watkins, Mr. Bogden and another official told him the mask was insufficient.

Meanwhile, white coworkers continued to wear their masks improperly or even flatly refused to wear one, he said.

Near the end of his shift that same day, the assistant vice president of nursing told him to leave the premises and not come back until he had spoken with human resources.

Mr. Henderson said he protested but was not given a reasonable explanation for his forced removal. He left as ordered. In September, he received a letter from the hospital saying failure to respond would be construed as his resignation.

In 20 years, Mr. Henderson said he had never received a negative review. “As a result of the racially motivated discrimination Mr. Henderson was forced to endure and the disparate treatment, Mr. Henderson was effectively terminated,” the complaint says.

The suit does not ask for reinstatement but requests a judge to award him back pay, front pay and other compensatory and punitive damages.

Calls to the hospital were not returned.