A Union woman is suing the nursing home where she worked for over a decade, alleging the employer discriminated against her on the basis of sex and race.
L’Tanya Chism, of Union, filed the lawsuit against Sunset Healthcare in Franklin County Court Nov. 27, according to online court records. Chism is seeking $225,000 in damages and has requested a jury trial.
Her complaint alleges that during the more than 11 years that Chism worked at Sunset Health Care Center in Union, she received less pay yet higher demands than any other worker in her position. She started working in the laundry and housekeeping departments in 2012, and she was promoted to activities supervisor in 2015.
In the lawsuit, Chism claims she “constantly had additional duties that she was asked to perform that were outside of her assigned job duties,” which included trips to the bank on behalf of the company, cleaning residents at the facility and driving other employees “to and from work even on my days off.”
“No other department heads were put in a position of such required additional obligations,” the lawsuit alleges.
On days when Chism could not complete the duties outside the scope of her employment, she claims she was blamed for a lack of staff. She also alleges that she was never switched from hourly pay to a salaried position, despite being told she would be.
Chism provided the company with her 30-day notice of resignation on Aug. 25, 2022, and the next day she received a text message from Sunset Healthcare Administrator Jennifer Lowe “stating that if (Chism) did not respond to her by 3pm she would take that as (Chism’s) immediate termination,” according to the lawsuit. Chism was allegedly told “her failure to comply with immediate demands of employer resulted in her termination.”
The lawsuit states Chism is an African-American woman, and she believes she suffered discrimination both on the basis of her race and sex.
Chism’s lawyer, Union-based Rachel Reagan-Purschke, did not respond to a request for comment by The Missourian. Lowe was not immediately available for comment, nor was a representative for MGM Healthcare, which says on its website it “offers administrative and consulting services” for Sunset.
