Union Plans Class Action Lawsuit Against ‘Racist’ Oregon Health & Science University: Report

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OHSU Racism Allegations Planned Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Members of the American federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union are planning to sue Oregon Health & Science University.
• Why: The union members allege OHSU is a “racist organization” and that employees of color are subjected to harsher treatment than white employees.
• Where: OHSU is located in Portland, Oregon.

The Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a “racist organization” where minorities are disciplined more harshly and fired more frequently than white employees, union members say, as they gear up to file a class action lawsuit against their employer.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) are planning to file a class action lawsuit against OHSU, alleging a system of racism, they told Oregon health news site The Lund Report.

OHSU is a public research university dedicated to health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland. It reportedly employs about 7,000 certified nursing assistants, housekeepers, food service staff and others represented by the union.

At a recent virtual town hall hosted by the union for former and current Black employees, the consensus was that OHSU is a “racist organization,” union representative Valyria Lewis told The Lund Report. 

Lewis said, since starting at OHSU in Feb. 2020, she’d gone through complaints, grievances and terminations at the organization and discovered a pattern of OHSU disciplining employees of color more harshly and firing them more often than their white counterparts.

She alleges seeing OHSU fire a Black or Brown employee for an offense, and only giving a warning to a white employee for the same issue. 

Lewis said Black employees had written a letter to OHSU leadership, accusing it of being an “enabler of racism,” however no action has been taken.

As a result, the union is currently collecting testimony of racism from current and former employees of the university hospital in order to file a class action complaint.

Lewis said her and other union executives met with OHSU leadership in April to set forth the allegations, presenting evidence that more than 50 percent of employees were Black, Latino, Asian or Hispanic. Less than 20 percent of AFSCME members at OHSU are racial or ethnic minorities. 

While OHSU did not formally respond to the allegations, The Lund Report said the organization had posted a statement on its internal website saying it was embarking on a multi-year plan to stamp out bias. 

“Becoming an anti-racist organization that embraces all people and cultures ia a priority for OHSU,” the statement reportedly read. 

“If we’re willing, our collective differences allow us to understand patients better, promote creativity in research, foster a better place to learn and help with collaboration and innovation.”

The news comes after Kaiser employees in April secured an $11.5 million settlement in a class action lawsuit accusing the health care provider of racial discrimination. 

The settlement will cover a proposed Class of more than 2,000 current and former Black Kaiser employees in California who were allegedly underpaid and under-promoted compared to their non-Black counterparts.  

What do you think of the allegations of OHSU employees? Let us know in the comments! 

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