Former Polk Medical Center administrator sues FMC

The former administrator of Polk Medical Center has sued Floyd Healthcare Management and its top brass, arguing she was illegally fired because of her gender and replaced with a lessqualified man.

Kimberly Scoggins, the former administrator of Polk Medical Center, argues in her lawsuit that her employer broke the law when it accessed her pharmacy records, wrongly accused her of a prescription pill addiction and then violated the Family and Medical Leave and the Americans with Disabilities acts in March when it terminated her employment.

Scoggins and her husband, Bryan K. Scoggins, have asked for a jury trial, the reinstatement of her job with back pay and punitive damages. No trial date has been set.

Floyd Healthcare Management Inc., FMC President and CEO Kurt Stuenkel, emergency room director Dr. Kevin Hardwell and chief medical director Joseph Biuso are listed as defendants.

“Defendant Floyd Hospital has treated one or more other male employees more favorable than Plaintiff with respect to rights afforded under practices and policies administered by Defendants, and Plaintiff was intentionally denied such favorable treatment,” the suit states.

Scoggins also claims the defendants discriminated against her because of an alleged health condition and refused to reinstate her to her old or a comparable position — violations of the FMLA.

The defendants violated the ADA when they terminated her because of a “perceived disability,” the suit states. They also failed to abide by her contract and pay her oneyear severance, Scoggins claims.

Stuenkel declined on Monday to comment on the allegations.

“It’s pending tion,” he said.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Scogginses in the U.S. District Court:

Kimberly Scoggins served as Polk Medical Center’s administrator when Redmond Regional Medical Center oversaw the facility, and she continued in that role when in early 2012 FMC took control.

Scoggins’ termination occurred on March 21 — about a week after she first met with Hardwell about her prescription pill use. Current Polk Medical Center administrator Matt Gorman was

litiga- appointed about three months afterward.

The March 21 meeting between Scoggins and Hardwell began with Hardwell asking if she’d ever asked a FMC ER doctor for Ambien.

Scoggins, who’d been prescribed Ambien before her employment with FMC, acknowledged that she’d asked an FMC doctor for Ambien, but noted that never occurred when any physician was on duty in the ER.

Hardwell called the matter serious, and led her to another meeting with Stuenkel and Biuso.

“In the board room on March 13, 2014, Plaintiff was confronted by both Dr. Biuso and Mr. Stuenkel in a harsh and intimidating manner, and in a tone she had never experienced before in the workplace,” the suit states. “Dr. Biuso and Mr. Stuenkel immediately accused Plaintiff of being addicted to Ambien and told her that she must be admitted to Ridgeview Hospital in Smyrna, Georgia, immediately if she wanted to keep her job.”

Biuso had a folder of Scoggins’ pharmacy record that Hardwell illegally obtained. Biuso then asked Scoggins about prescriptions and different doctors who’d prescribed them.

Scoggins said she had no addiction, noting she’d had three surgeries and was prescribed the drugs.

Biuso and Stuenkel, however, insisted she was an addict and must attend an in-patient facility that day if she were to keep her job.

Stuenkel said she’d use 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act while in the program.

Scoggins entered the facility at 9 p.m. that day. Her doctor at Ridgeview Hospital discharged her four days later.

She then opted to enroll in FMC’s out- patient Behavioral Health program, trying to appease Biuso and Stuenkel. Both, however, on March 21 said Scoggins “betrayed their trust.” They also chided her for refusing to allow them to access her protected medical and psychological records from Ridgeview.

Stuenkel then fired Scoggins despite her objections about being terminated while on medical leave.

“Defendant Floyd Hospital unlawfully denied Plaintiff benefits under the FMLA by interfering with Plaintiff’s ability to exercise her rights, by refusing to provide Plaintiff with any notice of her rights under the FMLA, by retaliating against Plaintiff for trying to exercise her rights under the FMLA, and for objecting to being terminated while she had been placed out on medical leave to Ridgeview Hospital under the FMLA,” the suit states.

John Quinlivan, CEO of Redmond Regional Medical Center, was Scoggins’ boss when Redmond oversaw Polk Medical Center. Contacted Tuesday, Quinlivan praised Scoggins.

“Kim was excellent,” Quinlivan said. “She did a fantastic job for us.

“She just never gave us any reason to doubt her ability,” he said. “We never had any problems with Kim’s performance.”