UM Settles Retaliation Case
ANN ARBOR – The University of Michigan Health System hospital settled a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by hospital executive Dr. Carmen Green. The parties agreed to a settlement amount of $375,000.
Green had alleged that she was fired in retaliation for conducting an investigative study into claims that Black patients were treated unfairly by University of Michigan Health System staff.
Green first became concerned when a University of Michigan chaplain reported hospital staff were seemingly calling security on Black patients and their visitors for no reason.
The study Green conduct revealed University of Michigan Health System staff called security 2.5 times more often when dealing with Black patients or visitors that became emotional in emergency and intensive care waiting rooms.
After Green submitted her report, the lawsuit accused the University of Michigan Health System CEO and University of Michigan Medical School Dean of planning her termination within two days.
The lying that went on here related to the smoking gun of retaliation
Green’s attorney, James Fett said. “That is a short gap between her protected activity of giving them the security report, which was the launching point for addressing this, the short gap being two days – until they decided to fire her.”
This case was featured by numerous news outlets, including that Atlanta Black Star, the Detroit Free Press, and MLive.