Report: Jury Finds Clinic Worker Fired Over Comp Claim, Awards $2.2M

Friday, October 29, 2021 | 0

A jury awarded $2.2 million to an Iowa worker who was fired days before scheduled surgery to treat a work-related injury, according to a report by the Sioux City Journal.

The jury concluded that Susan Boutwell, an ultrasound technician at Siouxland Women’s Health Care, was fired in April 2018 because she was going to file a claim for time she missed because of the surgery.

Boutwell said she was told one week before the surgery that she was being replaced and would not have an opportunity to return to work with restrictions. She also said she was told that she could file for unemployment once cleared to return to work because she no longer had a job, according to the report.

The jury on Oct. 19 issued its verdict holding that Boutwell was illegally fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim.

The jury award included $1 million in punitive damages, $750,000 for pain and suffering, more than $160,000 in lost wages and more than $347,000 in future lost wages.