Woman receives over 300K in lawsuit resolution

DANVILLE, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) — A Danville-based health care system will pay more than $300,000 and provide additional relief to settle a federal sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Ephraim McDowell Health rejected a female employee’s bid for a promotion to an advisor position in October 2021. The company’s CEO allegedly told her that men work better as advisors and that the role was better suited for a man.

The suit states that the CEO instead appointed a man to the advisor role and placed the woman in a lower-paying position that reported to him.

Under a consent decree, the company must now provide equal employment opportunity training, submit annual reports to the EEOC and post a notice informing employees of their rights under federal law.