News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 5, 2009
Did medical bills lead to Peoria nurse's firing?
Tony Dewitt was not going to win his battle with prostate cancer. He knew it. His wife, Phillis, knew it. The people at the hospital where she worked knew it.
But still, Phillis was taken aback when her supervisor asked whether Tony planned to seek hospice care.
"He's not ready to give up," Dewitt said she responded.
When her boss raised the subject again a few months later, Dewitt realized executives were monitoring Tony's soaring medical bills. "He still wants to fight," she explained, feeling defensive.
Months later, Proctor Hospital suddenly fired Dewitt over an allegation of insubordination. Dewitt, whose employment record was spotless, has another explanation: "They got rid of me because of his medical expenses."
Now the former nurse manager is locked in a high-profile legal battle with the Peoria hospital, which vigorously disputes her charge. A trial is set for this year after the 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed a lower court's decision to dismiss the case.
