Several employment discrimination cases filed against Northwest Health Services

By Chris Fortune

Northwest Health Services is facing multiple cases of employment discrimination related to the conduct of its chief executive officer.

Four cases alleging employment discrimination have been filed this year against Northwest Health Services that described a deterioration in work conditions for women after CEO Matt Younger was hired for the position around August 2020, according to court documents.

Cases have been filed by Maria Joy Kieser, Megan Brushwood, April I. Wamsley and Cassandra Ann Munoz-Parsons.

Two cases were filed on the same day on Feb. 16, with Kieser working for human resources with NHS and having daily contact with Younger. Kieser heard Younger make demeaning comments about female employees directly to her on many occasions, such as “women are not as intelligent as men,” “women are the weaker sex” and “women do have their place,” according to a court document in the case.

On several occasions, Kieser said Younger came to her and instructed her to fire female employees even though there were no violations to warrant their termination. On one occasion, the plaintiff was told by Younger to fire a clinic manager, and when the plaintiff stated there was no disciplinary action to justify the termination, he responded by telling her to “find a reason to get rid of her,” according to the court document.

In the other case filed on Feb. 16, Brushwood, who worked as a clinic manager, had little contact with Younger until January 2022 but had heard reports of his harsh treatment toward female NHS employees, according to court documents.

In January 2022, Younger contacted the plaintiff and told her that he was firing the other female clinic managers and that she was being assigned as a regional clinic manager in charge of four clinics, according to a court document in the case. She continued to hear reports of female employees terminated by Younger as months went by.

In a case filed on March 14, Wamsley, a female nurse practitioner, said the working conditions at NHS clinics had significantly worsened by May 2022 due to an increasing workload resulting from the unjustified terminations of many female NHS employees, according to a court document in the case.

Around May 18, 2022, Wamsley asked if Younger wished to be included in a conversation about the use of clinic staff members to manage the excessive workload of nurse practitioners at certain NHS clinics. Younger called Wamsley in response to the email and screamed that he was “tired of having to deal with a bunch of crybabies,” according to the court document.

In the fourth case filed on March 18, Munoz-Parsons, another female nurse practitioner, said she was contacted by a new human resources director in July 2022 and was told she was going to be interviewed as part of an investigation requested by the NHS Board of Directors involving the conduct of Younger, according to a court document in the case.

Munoz-Parsons was assured by the new HR director that the interview would be confidential, but in the weeks following the confidential interviews, several of the interviewees who had expressed criticism of Younger were fired by him or forced to resign, according to the court document.

Munoz-Parsons and other females who were not fired after the interviews suffered pay reductions, according to the court document.

Three out of the four cases have four-day jury trials scheduled for June, July and October 2025. Each plaintiff in the cases is seeking damages, including lost wages, compensatory damages, future lost wages, and attorney fees and costs. Munoz-Parson’s case has been removed to federal court.

Northwest Health Services administrators were not available for comment on Tuesday.