Federal lawsuit accuses Pueblo oral surgeon of gender discrimination

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado on Friday by former employee Charlie Grandt, claimed the Oral Surgery Specialists of Pueblo discriminated against women, and all the accusations centered around Dr. Ben Bailey.

Grandt worked as the office manager from 2017 to 2020. She said during the last year of her employment, multiple female staff complained about “abusive behavior” from Bailey.

The complaints from staff, detailed in the lawsuit complaint, alleges Bailey would “throw dental or surgical instruments out of anger or frustration with female employees” and make derogatory comments about women’s “physical appearance.”

Grandt alleges in the lawsuit that she witnessed Bailey “forcibly slap a female patient across the face while she was under anesthesia.”

After that verbal altercation, Grandt claims in the lawsuit that Bailey responded with derogatory name calling.

Grandt said she never saw this behavior from Bailey directed at a man.

According to the lawsuit, other staff knew about Bailey’s alleged behavior but did nothing to help. Grandt said she went to another doctor in the office, Eric Ringer, but “he took no action to stop Dr. Bailey from mistreating or abusing the employees,” the lawsuit states.

Grandt said even after multiple confrontations with Bailey and informing other staff about his alleged abuse, his behavior didn’t change, so Grandt decided to report Bailey to her employer in August 2020. According to the lawsuit, Grandt claims she was fired days after reporting Bailey’s behavior because she “solicited complaints from other employees in the OSS office about Dr. Bailey’s harassing behavior.”

In the lawsuit, her attorney denies that she solicited complaints against Bailey. He argues that even if she did, Grandt was engaged in “protected opposition to discrimination” and therefore Grandt’s termination violated federal law.

“Ms. Grandt asserts that during her employment, she was subjected to discrimination because of her gender, harassment because of her gender and that her employment was terminated in retaliation for her opposition to gender discrimination and harassment,” the lawsuit complaint states.

Grandt then filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawusit claims that Te Oral Surgery Specialists responded and changed positions, saying Grandt was terminated for hosting a party at her house with coworkers.

According to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, Bailey’s dentist license is still active and there is no history of disciplinary records.

The office manager at the Oral Surgery Specialists of Pueblo and Bailey said they were not aware of the federal lawsuit or the abuse allegations. Both declined to comment at this time.