Erie-area pain clinic settles lawsuit with nurse who claimed sexual harassment
An Erie-area pain clinic has settled a federal lawsuit over claims of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination, ending another legal action against the clinic, Tri-State Pain Institute, and its owner and founder, Dr. Joseph M. Thomas. The clinic and Thomas for years faced a slew of lawsuits and bankruptcy related to a MRSA outbreak at the clinic in 2017.
The plaintiff in the harassment case is a nurse practitioner who worked at Tri-State Pain Institute for about four months in 2022.
She claimed "the behavior of Dr. Thomas created a sexually charged hostile and offensive work environment," according to her suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Erie in March. "Those who objected to his inappropriate behavior were subject to verbal abuse."
The suit was settled in mid-December, according to court records. The terms were not disclosed.
The suit claimed the behavior at Tri-State Pain Institute, 5442 Peach St. in Millcreek Township, included Thomas repeatedly questioning the nurse about her sex life, commenting on her physical appearance, making sexually charged remarks to her and patients and engaging in other "sexually inappropriate conduct."
In one instance, the nurse claimed in the suit, she observed Thomas napping in an examination room in June 2022, "laying on the examination table with his hands down his pants, appearing to be masturbating."
The nurse "turned immediately to leave when she realized what he was doing," the suit claimed. "Dr. Thomas then told the Plaintiff 'Wait, come back, look!' Plaintiff left the room mortified."
Tri-State denies claims, says nurse cannot make case
The nurse sued Tri-State on March 29. She claimed she was led to resign her job at the clinic on July 7, 2022, due to sexual harassment and sexual discrimination and due to retaliation she said she suffered when she raised concerns.
Her lawyer, Timothy McNair, listed the cause of action for the suit as "gender discrimination/harassment/hostile environment," according to court records.
The nurse claimed her resignation amounted to constructive discharge because of the objectionable conduct at Tri-State and her complaints about it. The nurse demanded back pay, damages and attorney's fees from Tri-State. The suit did not name Thomas as a defendant.
Tri-State denied the claims in a response to the lawsuit the clinic's lawyer filed on May 9. Tri-State said the nurse's claims were barred "because Defendant's alleged actions were not intentional, malicious, willful or reckless" and that "any adverse action was the result of Plaintiff's own conduct," according to the response.
Tri-State contended in the response that the nurse would not be able to "prove the necessary elements of retaliation" and that a claim for punitive damages should fail.
"Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages is barred," according to the response, "because Defendant took affirmative, good-faith measures to comply with the law."
Tri-State also argued that federal employment discrimination laws did not apply to the case because the clinic has fewer than 15 employees — most of the laws apply if a business has 15 or more employees, according to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Tri-State asked U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter to dismiss the suit.
Nurse, Tri-State settle case following mediation
The case never got beyond the nurse making her claims and Tri-State filing its blanket denials in the court filing.
The case was resolved in out-of-court mediation on Sept. 11, according to court records. In light of the mediation, before a neutral third party, lawyers for the nurse and Tri-State Pain Institute filed for dismissal of the case on Dec. 8. Baxter ordered the case dismissed on Dec. 12.
The court records provide no information on the amount of the settlement.
The nurse's lawyer, McNair, declined to comment on the settlement. The lawyer for Tri-State Pain Institute, Andrew Maunz, of Pittsburgh, said his client would have no comment.
The Erie Times-News is not naming the plaintiff because her claims involve sexual harassment. The lawsuit identifies her by name and states that she is a resident of Cranesville. She was 58 when she sued in March and is now 59, according to the suit and public records.
Lawsuit follows bankruptcy, MRSA claims
The lawsuit is the latest legal action against Thomas, 74, who remains licensed to practice medicine, and his Tri-State Pain Institute, which remains in business.
In 2020, a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Erie approved a $4.5 million settlement that ended 11 lawsuits related to a MRSA outbreak at Tri-State in 2017. The $4.5 million represented the amount that insurers agreed to pay.
The MRSA outbreak left patients in need of serious interventions, including surgery and long-term antibiotic regimens, to fight the infection, according to their lawsuits.
In responses filed in some of the suits, Thomas and Tri-State denied the claims and responded that the patients’ illnesses were "the result of a pre-existing and/or naturally progressive condition."
The $4.5 million settlement went through U.S. Bankruptcy Court because Tri-State and Thomas were in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings when the deal was reached. Tri-State filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2020. Thomas followed with his own Chapter 11 filing in May 2020.
The pandemic and the 2017 MRSA outbreak at the clinic contributed to their financial woes, according to court records.
As part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and to raise money to pay creditors, Tri-State in April 2021 sold its longtime home, a 31,784-square-foot building at 2374 Village Common Drive in Millcreek, for $3.37 million. Thomas sold his home on affluent South Shore Drive in Erie for $1 million in July 2021 and sold his art and antiques collection.
Thomas in 2021 relocated Tri-State Pain Institute. The clinic since then has leased a 4,680-square-foot building at 5442 Peach St., the former home of Rose Floral.
Lawsuit lists incidents that nurse claims were inappropriate
The nurse who sued Tri-State said she started working at the Peach Street building on March 21, 2022, according to the suit. It states that she began as a part-time employee with an understanding that she would go to full-time in several weeks.
"From the beginning of her employment," the suit claims, "Plaintiff was subjected to a hostile and/or offensive work environment based on gender and was subjected to disparate treatment based on gender."
Among the claims, according to the suit:
On April 22, 2022, "Thomas, in Plaintiff's presence, told a patient's daughter, while holding his genitals, 'I don't know if I can concentrate on your mom, your so damn beautiful.'"
On April 25, 2022, "Thomas stated to Plaintiff, 'If you stay on keto and lose some weight, you'll be (expletive) hot.'"
On May 3, 2022, "Plaintiff discussed the sexually driven and hostile work environment with Dr. Thomas," a conversation that the nurse claims the office manager witnessed. According to the suit, "Thomas responded with a stream of insults, telling Plaintiff that her outfit 'looks crazy" and calling her a 'nun,' stating that she was OCD." The nurse said in the suit that she told Thomas "that the way she was being treated was not acceptable, that it was upsetting and disrespectful and caused her grief and anxiety."
On May 23, 2022, Thomas questioned the nurse about her sex life, including questions about her husband.
On June 2, 2022, Thomas "told Plaintiff she should wear more dresses" like another woman in the office. "Your not as hot as (the other woman is)," Thomas told the nurse, according to the suit. "If you lose more weight, you'd be (expletive) hot!"
On June 7, 2022, Thomas again asked the nurse about her sex life.
On June 27, 2022, a female patient told the nurse "that she would never be a patient of Dr. Thomas again" because of what the suit claimed were "sexually suggestive" comments that Thomas had made to the patient, including repeatedly remarking about the size of her buttocks.
On an unspecified date in June 2022, according to the suit, the nurse encountered Thomas napping in an exam room during the episode in which she claimed he appeared to be masturbating.
Nurse claims harassment, retaliation forced her to resign
The nurse claimed her complaints failed to resolve the situation with Thomas.
According to the suit: "In response to Plaintiff's complaints regarding her treatment and the inappropriate sexual comments by Dr. Thomas, Dr. Thomas embarked on a course of harassment upon Plaintiff in retaliation."
The nurse, according to the suit, said she told the office manager on June 30, 2022, that she would resign "if there wasn't a resolution regarding the unwanted abuse and harassment from Dr. Thomas."
The nurse claimed in the suit she raised the same concerns with the office manager and another employee on July 6, 2022, and again said she would submit her resignation if "no acceptable resolution for change by Dr. Thomas" was reached by the end of the day.
"Dr. Thomas did not offer any resolution by the end of the day," according to the suit.
The suit states that the office manager called the nurse the next day, July 7, 2022, and told her that Thomas had accepted her resignation.
The nurse claimed that she had no choice to resign.
In explaining why the nurse left Tri-State Pain Institute, the suit claimed, "Plaintiff was constructively discharged as the result of and in retaliation for her complaints about the hostile and/or offensive work environment, sexually inappropriate conduct, harassment and abuse resulting from her opposition" to what the nurse said was the objectionable behavior.
"As a result of her treatment," according to the suit, "she could no longer work at Tri-State Pain."
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Settlement ends sexual harassment case against Erie-area pain clinic
