Interventional Pain Management Associates and Baxter Regional Medical Center to Pay $350,000 in EEOC Retaliation Lawsuit

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Interventional Pain Management Associates (IPMA), a Mountain Home, Arkansas pain management clinic, and Baxter Regional Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital, will pay $350,000 and furnish other relief to settle a retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, IPMA and Baxter fired an employee in retaliation for her opposition to the sexual harassment of a co-worker. After receiving a complaint of sexual harassment on or about April 2019 from a medical technician against an IPMA physician and co-founder, Baxter’s human resources department investigated. When HR interviewed the physician assistant, she confirmed the medical technician’s allegations, including describing sexually explicit text messages from the physician shown to her by the medical technician. As a result of the investigation, the accused physician took a sabbatical leave.

Three years later, another IPMA physician, who knew the physician assistant participated in the investigation of his colleague, asked the physician assistant to resign. When she refused, IPMA and Baxter fired her. Unbeknownst to second physician, the employee recorded the conversation where he admitted, among other things, the companies asked her to resign because she responded to HR’s investigation of the alleged sexual harassment instead of reporting it second physician.

“In 2009, the Supreme Court held that Title VII protects an employee who opposes unlawful sexual harassment, but does not report the harassment herself,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney for the Memphis District Office. “This case sends a strong message to other employers that the EEOC remains committed to ensuring a workplace free of retaliation.”

The alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits retaliation against those who oppose sexual harassment or participate in an investigation of sexual harassment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. IPMA and Baxter Regional Medical Center, Case No. 3:23-cv-03040) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Harrison Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. On Jan. 29, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy L. Brooks rejected the companies’ argument that, as a matter of law, they could not be considered a single employer for purposes of liability. The court held, based on the facts in the record, that a jury should determine the issue.

Besides the monetary settlement, the four-year consent decree settling the suit, entered by U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, requires IPMA and Baxter to revise their respective sexual harassment and retaliation policies and provide annual training to all employees and staff on unlawful retaliatory employment practices.

Delner Franklin-Thomas, district director of the Memphis District Office, said, “It is important that employers recognize the EEOC stands firm in its commitment of eradicating retaliation in the workplace.”

For more information on sexual harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. For more information on retaliation, visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Memphis District Office has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee, and 17 counties in Northern Mississippi.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.