Doctor's lawsuit moving forward
Jenn Brookens — Staff WriterFAIRMONT - A case of wrongful termination against Fairmont Medical Center will continue, following a ruling from Judge Robert Walker in Martin County.
Henry M. Helgen III, an attorney representing Dr. Lee Yang, says two of three claims his client filed against the medical center will be heard by the court. Lawyers representing both sides of the unemployment lawsuit argued over the medical center's motion to dismiss the suit back in November.
The suit was filed last summer by Yang, a former surgeon with Fairmont Medical Center. She claims she was fired after anonymous e-mails targeting medical center CEO Dr. Phillip Vuocolo were sent to medical center staff in March 2009. The emails reportedly were sent by Yang's husband. She claimed no knowledge of that allegation.
When confronted by the medical center about the emails and asked to sign a memo of warning, Yang says she refused and was released from her duties.
Of Yang's three charges against the medical center, one of two "whistleblower" counts has been dismissed.
"The first count lists someone acting as a whistleblower on her behalf, and the second count was for herself, because they treated her as if she was the one who did this," Helgen said. "But because she didn't, that particular count was dismissed."
A third count that will be heard deals with interference with Yang's business relations. Yang claims the medical center failed to file some paperwork in a timely manner so she could continue her work elsewhere.
"We will now be able to proceed with discovery and have time to determine what really happened behind the scenes," Helgen said.
An attempt to reach David Bunde, the attorney representing Fairmont Medical Center, was unsuccessful Tuesday afternoon.
