Jury Awards $10 Million Verdict to Medical Resident Who Was Terminated While on Maternity Leave

[Flint, MI] – A Genesee County jury has returned a $10,034,951 verdict against Ascension Genesys Hospital in favor of a 42-year-old former medical resident who was terminated from the hospital’s residency program after allegedly being required to take a licensing exam while on maternity leave. Represented by Morgan & Morgan attorneys Michael Hanna, Gregory Schmitz, Jolie Pavlos, Ryan Morgan, the plaintiff secured an eight-figure verdict after two-and-a-half-week trial. 

The plaintiff was terminated on April 16, 2021, from her position in Ascension Genesys Hospital’s OB/GYN Postgraduate Residency Program. As part of the program requirements, residents are required to pass the COMLEX Level 3 examination by the sixth month of their second year of postgraduate training, which for the plaintiff would have been December 2020. Due to testing restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the plaintiff was initially unable to sit for the exam and ended up not passing the exam the first time she took it in September 2020. Both prior to and while the plaintiff was on maternity leave, she requested additional time to re-take the exam after her maternity leave ended, which the defendant denied.

After her termination, the plaintiff retook the exam in June 2021, once she had sufficient time to prepare outside of maternity leave, and passed. Despite passing the exam, Ascension Genesys Hospital refused to reinstate her to the residency program. Morgan & Morgan attorneys successfully argued that the defendant knew that she was going to be on maternity leave to give birth and would be unable to sufficiently study for and take the exam while on maternity leave. 

“This case involved a clear violation of an employee’s rights under discrimination laws in Michigan,” said Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorneys Michael Hanna, Jolie Pavlos, Gregory Schmitz and Ryan Morgan. “Because of the hospital’s decision to terminate her, she lost years of future earnings, coupled with severe pain and suffering. We’re pleased that the jury recognized the serious impact that this incident will have on the rest of her life and career and held the defendant accountable.”

Morgan & Morgan attorneys Michael Hanna, Jolie Pavlos, Gregory Schmitz and Ryan Morgan represented the plaintiff.  The defendants were represented by attorneys Allan Rubin, Kevin Littlejohn and Kate Kennedy of Jackson Lewis, P.C. The case was heard by Judge Mark Latchana in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court for the County of Genesee, Case No. 2023-119894-CZ.