Doctor’s suit says employer discriminated
Insurer fired her after harassment accusation
Before Dr. Sandra Guerra joined San Antonio’s Metropolitan Health District last year, she’d spent eight years as chief medical officer with Humana.
Guerra’s tenure at the Louisville, Ky., health insurance company didn’t end well.
She alleges she was terminated in February 2020 after a subordinate accused her of harassment. But she says that was just a pretext for her firing. The real reason had to do with her color and gender, she says. She is a U.S. citizen of Mexican-american descent.
Guerra last month filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against Humana in state District Court in San Antonio. She seeks damages ranging from $250,000 to $1 million and unspecified punitive damages.
Humana has yet to file an answer to the lawsuit. A spokeswoman said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Guerra joined Metro Health as assistant medical director in June 2020, about four months after her exit from Humana. She provided leadership and consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to her Linkedin profile.
In October, Guerra was named Metro Health’s interim deputy public health director, overseeing its day-to-day operations. She relinquished that role in December but remains em
ployed with Metro Health as a contractor working parttime as assistant medical director, an agency spokesman said.
Guerra also currently serves as chief medical officer with Wellcare of Kentucky, which is part of Centene Corp. She was hired in January.
Humana hired Guerra in 2012 as chief medical officer and vice president of Humana Government Business. Her work related to
Tricare, a health insurance program for military members, their dependents and retirees.
Guerra’s Linkedin profile says she supervised a team of 1,000 associates, including executives, physicians and clinicians at Humana.
In her lawsuit, Guerra’s says she had reprimanded the subordinate who complained she had harassed him days before he lodged his complaint. The man is white.
“I was the only Hispanic female vice president, and progressive discipline was not afforded me in violation
of the Humana policy,” Guerra wrote in a complaint she filed in July 2020 with the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division.
At Guerra’s lawyer’s request, the agency recently dismissed the charge and issued her a notice of a right to file a civil action against Humana.
Guerra received no negative human resources complaints or violations during her employment at Humana, her suit says. Her work performance had been rated as “excellent” by her supervisors.
“Unlike Dr. Guerra, white male executives were treated more fairly” by Humana, the complaint adds.
Guerra then cited how Humana treated four executives.
One senior executive “engaged in sexual harassment with a subordinate and was later beaten up by the woman’s husband in front of the Humana tower in Louisville,” Guerra alleges. That executive suffered no adverse personnel action and was even promoted, she says.
Another executive who overpaid and underpaid health care providers, resulting in millions of dollars in penalties for Humana, also did not suffer any adverse employment action, Guerra’s suit alleges.
Guerra adds that her position was filled by two white males.
She is suing Humana for violating the part of the Texas Labor Code that addresses unlawful discrimination. The damages she seeks include for past and future pay, as well as compensatory damages for emotional pain and suffering.