TALLAHASSEE -- A woman is suing her former employer for retaliation.
Michele Vuolo filed a complaint on August 22 in Leon County Circuit Court against MHM Health Professionals, LLC d/b/a Centurion Healthcare for private whistleblower retaliation.
According to the complaint, Vuolo began her employment with Defendant on December 11, 2018, until her alleged wrongful termination on June 18, 2020. Vuolo alleges that despite her "stellar work performance," she was treated differently than co-workers by HSA Jason Scott and Regional Director Krystal Ake.
In March 2020, Vuolo emailed Defendant to say that she had a transgender patient that was being threatened with rape, and she was concerned about the violation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Soon after the email, the pandemic began, and Vuolo alleges that Pharmacy Tech Mullins breached protocol and brought COVID-19 into the workplace but was not reprimanded for it.
Vuolo then alleges that Mullins entered her office and yelled at her for not wearing a mask. Vuolo reported Mullins behavior to HSA Scott who then threatened Vuolo with a reprimand for breaching protocol, the suit says. Vuolo alleges multiple other occasions where she was reprimanded for incidents while other workers were not.
On June 19, 2020, Vuolo was told she was terminated for allegations of looking at photos of an inmate and missing two calls in the early morning of June 4, 2020, the suit says.
Vuolo seeks general and compensatory damages, attorney's fees and cost of suit. Vuolo is represented by Marie A. Mattox.
Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit in and for Leon County filing number 133157125