PHILADELPHIA – A Langhorne woman is suing a medical center over claims of disability discrimination.
Bridget Musse filed a lawsuit Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against St. Mary Medical Center, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the Family Medical and Leave Act.
The suit states Musse worked for the defendant as a registered nurse in its medical surgical main unit from October 2004 until her discharge on Nov. 13, 2013. According to the suit, Musse is a qualified individual with multiple diagnosed disabilities, for which her co-workers allegedly made fun of her and regarded her as "mentally unstable."
On May 16, 2013, Musse told a representative in the defendant's human resources department that she needed to take time off because she felt she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Musse returned from FMLA leave in August 2013 and tried to apply for transfers to other units, the complaint states.
Though she was allegedly qualified for these other positions, she was only interviewed one time out of six different transfer requests, she claims. She alleges that when she returned, several co-workers knew of her reason for needing medical leave, which she claims is a violation of the ADA.
Musse seeks compensatory damages, reinstatement, actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and other costs of the suit. She is represented by attorneys Timothy M. Kolman, Wayne A. Ely, and W. Charles Sipio of Kolman Ely in Penndel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:16-CV-00106-JHS