Presbyterian Healthcare Services, operating Lincoln County Medical Center and its emergency services unit in Ruidoso, N.M., will pay $150,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit for race discrimination and retaliation brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Lincoln County Medical Center subjected Tabitha Knoll-Billingsley, an African American emergency medical technician, to race discrimination and then retaliated against her for complaining about the racial harassment by her white coworker. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and retaliation for complaining about it.
The EEOC filed suit in US District Court for the District of New Mexico after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process. The two-year consent decree settling the suit, entered on September 2, 2020, prohibits Presbyterian from discriminating against employees on the basis of race and from retaliating against employees in the future. The decree also requires Presbyterian to review and revise its EEO discrimination reporting and investigation policies, and it requires Lincoln County Medical Center to train all its employees on Title VII race and retaliation laws. The decree further requires Presbyterian to pay $150,000 and issue a letter of apology to Knoll-Billingsley.
