The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

July 10, 2009

UPDATE: Sharon Regional denies bias claims of ex-employee

By Joe Pinchot

SHARON — Sharon Regional Health System officially denied allegations of race and age bias and retaliation lodged by an ex-employee in a federal lawsuit.

The hospital previously denied the allegations in a statement, but recently filed its answer to Antonia Gibson’s suit.

Ms. Gibson, who was born in 1963, of 792 Baldwin Ave., Sharon, was hired May 10, 1999, as a mental health worker, she said in the suit filed May 18. She said she “consistently received favorable ratings in her annual performance evaluations.”

The hospital responded that Ms. Gibson was “at best a marginal employee,” who had “frequent disciplinary violations and “frequently interacted inappropriately with patients and co-workers.”

During a shift in September, a coworker from another floor called Ms. Gibson and asked her to bring a wheelchair to her so she could transport a patient, Ms. Gibson said in the suit filed by Neal A. Sanders and Dirk D. Beuth, Butler.

Ms. Gibson, who is black, said she and a nurse were the only staff members on their floor, and company policy prohibits her from leaving the floor while the nurse is distributing medication.

The hospital responded that Ms. Gibson “answered the telephone, stated to the worker that she was busy and thereafter did nothing in response to the worker’s emergency request.”

Ms. Gibson said the co-worker told her the chair was not needed for an emergency.

Ms. Gibson was informed Oct. 6 that she was being fired for failing to provide aid to a coworker in a potentially critical situation, she said. The hospital denied this statement because Ms. Gibson “did not fully and/or completely describe the events that occurred.”

She said other, younger employees of different races were treated more favorably, and she was replaced by a substantially younger, white person, statements the hospital denied in the answer filed by William James Rogers of Thomson, Rhodes and Cowie, Pittsburgh.

The hospital said Ms. Gibson’s age and race were not factors in employment decisions, that her termination was for “valid disciplinary reasons,” and that it did not retaliate against her after she filed a discrimination charge in early 2008 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in response to a suspension.

Text Only
Local News
  • Store owner busted again for fake pot sales

    The owner of a Grove City store already facing charges related to the sale of synthetic marijuana has been arrested a second time for selling the drug.

    Ala H. Nassar, 27, of 125 S. Seventh St., Sharpsville, was arrested Thursday on charges of delivery, possession and possession with intent to deliver synthetic pot, criminal use of a cellular telephone and conspiracy to commit delivery.

    Abdallah H. Matariyeh, 27, of the same address, also was arrested on charges of delivery and possession with intent to deliver.

    February 10, 2012

  • Bids opened for work to widen Rt. 760

    PennDOT officials opened bids Thursday for the first two sections of a three-section widening of Route 760 in Wheatland, Farrell and Sharon.

    February 10, 2012

  • Timeline now at center of negligence lawsuit

    A jury will decide whether the normal statute of limitations applies in a lawsuit filed by a Sharon man accusing a Sewickley agency of negligence that resulted in numerous injuries to his disabled son.

    February 10, 2012

  • Social media alert first responders

    The Mercer County Fire/EMS alerts’ Facebook page is two years strong and continues to attract followers who want the latest updates on traffic accidents, fires and other emergencies.

    February 10, 2012

  • State cuts trickle down to township

    Brookfield Township “is in a world of hurt.”

    February 9, 2012

  • Toth takes $30k to settle lawsuit

    It’s typical for lawsuit settlement agreements to include a confidentiality clause that bars the parties from discussing the terms of the settlement.

    February 9, 2012

  • Taking flight

    Some kids probably daydream about sending their homework up into the atmosphere, but that really happened this week for a few classes of Jamestown Area High School students.

    February 9, 2012

  • GC man called suspect in Jan. 27 bank robbery

    A Grove City man charged with robbing a Zelienople bank Monday is a suspect in the Jan. 27 robbery of a Sandy Lake bank.

    February 8, 2012

  • Committee to focus on finances for future

    Sharon city leaders have money on their minds as they look to the future of the once-vibrant town struggling with a limited tax base and higher costs of doing business.

    February 8, 2012

  • Summer work turns into year-round part-time job

    A Sharpsville resident asked council members this week why the man hired as summer help is still on the payroll in the middle of winter.

    February 8, 2012