Lawsuit claims care facility forced at-risk employee to treat residents with COVID-19

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    GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A Westmoreland County woman claims she was forced to work in a local senior care facility’s COVID-19 unit, despite being high-risk and having a note from her medical provider.

Dianne Corrie filed a lawsuit in federal court this week against her former employer, Redstone Presbyterian Senior Care. According to the complaint, Corrie worked as an RN Assessment Coordinator for Redstone Highlands in Greensburg, a position that did not have any direct contact with residents.

“It was a job she really liked,” Corrie’s attorney Sammy Sugiura said. “It was a job that she thought she might retire from.”

Corrie was hired in 2018. She claims when the pandemic began, her role was changed. Sugiura said Corrie is considered high-risk due to ongoing medical conditions, and she had received recommendations from her doctor that she work from home during the pandemic if possible.

Instead, Corrie claims the company moved her to the COVID-19 unit in the facility working directly with residents that were potentially exposed to the virus.

The lawsuit also claims the company did not take proper steps to fully protect Corrie.

“If they aren’t willing to even fit her for an N95 mask, let alone provide her with one, that’s frustrating,” Sugiura said.

The complaint filed against the company says Corrie was initially suspended at the end of April and then fired two days later. Sugiura believes the company’s action violated state and federal law and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to multiple officials with Redstone Presbyterian Senior Care for comment on the lawsuit but did not get a response.

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