Health care executive says he was fired because he’s white, North Carolina suit says
.jpg "A former marketing executive said North Carolina-based Novant discriminated against him when they replaced him with two minority hires as part of a diversity push in management, according to a federal lawsuit.")
A former marketing executive says the decision to fire him from a multi-state healthcare provider in North Carolina was reverse discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
Novant Health Inc. terminated Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications David Duvall — who is a white male — from his position last year and replaced him with two minority hires, according to the complaint.
“Novant fired plaintiff without warning or cause as part of an intentional campaign to promote diversity in its management ranks; a campaign it has boasted about publicly,” the suit states.
Novant primarily serves North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. In 2018, it operated on $4.99 billion in revenue with a net income of $94 million, its website states.
It also boasts one of the largest medical centers in the country out of Winston-Salem, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. At the time of Duvall’s firing, the healthcare provider reportedly employed nearly 30,000 employees.
Kati Everett, chief communications officer for Novant, told McClatchy news group in a statement Wednesday the company is aware of the allegations.
“Due to corporate policy, we cannot comment specifically on this legal matter, except to say that Novant Health will defend itself vigorously against these claims,” she said.
Counsel for Duvall declined to comment.
Duvall joined Novant in 2013 and worked out of offices in Mecklenburg County, according to the suit.
During his nearly five-year tenure, the complaint says Duvall’s superiors gave him “strong” evaluations and his team consistently had “a high level of workplace satisfaction.”
He was also reportedly on various committees and councils at Novant and received “industry-wide recognition and awards” for his marketing projects, according to the suit.
But days before Duvall’s five-year anniversary with the company — when he would have been eligible for longer severance pay and benefits as well as 1.5 times the bonus he received the year prior — he was fired without reason and sent “off the premises immediately,” the complaint states.
His supervisor reportedly told him it had “nothing to do with (Duvall’s) performance” and he had “done everything asked of him and more.”
“Plaintiff was so productive that Novant split his duties between two separate positions, promoting one of plaintiff’s direct reports, a white female, into a new role of Chief Communications Officer, and hiring a black female as the leader of Marketing,” the suit states.
At least five other white male executives — including the chief legal officer, medical group president, chief information officer, patient experience officer and president of Haymarket Medical Center — were also reportedly fired.
All were “replaced by either a racial minority and/or female in a period of 12 to 18 months,” according to the complaint.
“While the goal of achieving diversity in leadership has recognized value, terminating high performing employees with no justification or purpose other than to achieve diversity constitutes an adverse employment action based on race and/or gender,” the suit states.
Duvall was without work for a year, during which time the complaint states he “lost the severance pay of 18 months of base pay and 1.5 times his prior bonus” and more than $200,000 in retirement benefits. He also had to pay out of pocket for health insurance.
He was hired earlier this year as the senior vice president and chief marketing, communications and experience officer with Henry Ford Health System in Michigan, according to a press release.
But he “suffered the humiliation of being abruptly terminated because of his race and gender,” according to the suit.
As a result, the complaint makes claims for employment discrimination on the basis of race and sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as wrongful discharge.
Duvall is seeking reinstatement with full back pay and lost benefits or full back pay, benefits and front pay without reinstatement.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Health care executive says he was fired because he’s white, North Carolina suit says."
