Peak Vista reaches $1.2 settlement after wrongful termination allegations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Peak Vista Community Health Centers has reached a settlement with five former employees after facing allegations of wrongful termination.
Four physicians and one nurse practitioner said they were terminated after speaking out about patient care. In 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Peak Vista may have violated federal employment laws.
"As part of this resolution, we are taking concrete steps to build stronger clarity and greater
alignment going forward, including increased transparency in all that we do," said Jaeson Fournier, president and CEO of Peak Vista Community Health Centers, in part. "Just as importantly, we are using this as an opportunity to learn and improve. We are reviewing and refining our internal practices, leadership training and decision-making processes to help ensure collectively as an organization, both employer and employees have a better understanding of employment rights so that our policies and practices are consistent with both our values and our legal responsibilities."
According to the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), the employees had spoken up about excessive patient volumes and shortened appointment times before their termination. Additionally, UAPD alleges that providers were pressured to work unpaid extra hours.
“These clinicians did what ethical healthcare professionals are obligated to do—they spoke up for their patients,” said Dr. Stuart Bussey, UAPD president, in a statement. “This settlement affirms that providers have the right to advocate for safe, high-quality care without fear of retaliation.”
"The money is meaningful in that it restores what was wronged in the financial sense, but it doesn't restore what was wronged in terms of the reputation, the stress. The dignity that's lost when you got terminated. Some of these people were walked out by security, in front of their colleagues for exercising a protected legal right," says Andrew Gutmann, a representative with UAPD.
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