Becker's Hospital Review

32 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP POPULATION HEALTH Psychologist sues, claims Maine hospital paid her half of male colleagues' salary By Molly Gamble A clinical psychologist at Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor, Maine, said she earned $50 an hour compared to the $90 and $95 hourly earnings of her two male colleagues, according to the Bangor Daily News. Clare Mundell, PhD, filed suit Jan. 5 against the hospital, alleging unequal pay, sex dis- crimination and retaliation. e complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Bangor, seeks unspecified damages and asks that the judge order Northern Light to train all em- ployees in civil rights law and pay disparities. e system denies the allegations. Dr. Mundell began working at Acadia Hospi- tal in November 2017 as a pool psychologist for $50 per hour. e suit claims that about two years later, she learned two male pool psychologists were making $90 and $95, re- spectively, an hour. e complaint alleges that two other female pool psychologists earned $50 an hour and the salary equivalent of $48.82 an hour. Dr. Mundell raised the issue with the hospi- tal's CMO in 2019 and was told that the hu- man resources department was conducting an analysis of pay equity, and to wait for re- sults, according to the complaint. Aer hospital leaders conducted the analysis in January 2020, Acadia Hospital President Scott Oxley allegedly told Dr. Mundell the au- dit had uncovered "pay discrepancies across the hospital," according to the suit, and re- turned to Dr. Mundell in February 2020 with a proposal to adjust the hourly pay for pool psychologists to $57. e two male pool psy- chologists reportedly continued to earn $90 and $95 an hour through May 2020 to "ease their transition" to lower pay, she was told, according to the suit. When Dr. Mundell asked for back pay to make up for the discrepancy in pay for more than two years, Mr. Oxley allegedly said that was not possible but offered her a one-time "appreciation" bonus of $5,000, according to the complaint. Later, he allegedly offered to pay the differ- ence in two ways: (1) the $7 difference be- tween her former pay of $50 per hour and new rate of $57 per hour, and (2) the differ- ence between her new $57 hourly rate and the $90 and $95 hourly rates her male colleagues would continue to receive through May. e suit claims that Dr. Mundell expressed disappointment in how the discrepancy was handled and dissatisfaction with the offer of a bonus to remedy it. It alleges that Dr. Mun- dell suggested Mr. Oxley ask the hiring man- ager for an explanation of the discrepancies, to which he replied, "at would be on you to pursue. What do you want me to do, go through every inequality I found and reim- burse everyone?" Dr. Mundell resigned in March 2020. She was not permitted to work through her notice pe- riod, according to the suit. In a statement obtained by the Bangor Daily News, Northern Light spokesperson Suzanne Spruce denied the allegations in the lawsuit: "It is patently false to say that Acadia Hospi- tal has a 'practice of paying female employees much less than their male colleagues,' and it is also untrue that there is a widespread problem of gender-based pay disparity at Acadia Hos- pital or any of Northern Light Health's other facilities. Northern Light Health is commit- ted to treating all of its employees, regardless of gender, or any other protected class fairly and equitably as it works to provide top qual- ity care to the people of Maine." n What Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on her first day as CDC director By Kelly Gooch R ochelle Walensky, MD, said on her first day as CDC director that she is proud to join the agen- cy, and also recognizes the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Walensky began her position Jan. 20 after being select- ed by President Joe Biden in December. She previously served as the chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Amer- ica is truly heartbreaking — for the loss of our loved ones and our beloved ways of life," Dr. Walensky, who was also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement. "At Massachusetts General Hospital, I saw firsthand the many difficulties this pandemic brings to our front-line workers and first responders, hospitals and pub- lic health systems, communities and loved ones." She said "better, healthier days lie ahead," but that requires rapid acceleration of COVID-19 testing, surveillance and vac- cination. She said the U.S. "must also confront the longstanding public health challenges of social and racial injustice and inequity that have demanded action for far too long. And we must make up for potentially lost ground in areas like suicide, substance use disorder and overdose, chronic dis- eases, and global health initiatives." Moving forward, Dr. Walensky said Anne Schuchat, MD, the agency's principal deputy director, "will begin leading a comprehensive review of all existing guidance related to COVID-19." This guidance will be updated as needed. n

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