Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't underestimate the reputational costs of HR-related legal action.You're facing increased financial risk in the health care regulatory and reimbursement arenas, but you also need to remember your compliance responsibilities with federal employment laws.Hawaii Professional HomeCare Services Inc. in Honolulu has learned that lesson the hard way. The agency and its owner, Carolyn Frutoz-De Harne, have been ordered by a federal judge to pay $193,000 to a former employee allegedly fired for her age, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says in a release. Frutoz-De Harne ordered the 2008 termination of Debra Moreno, a then-54-year-old office coordinator at its Maui facility, according to a 2010 age discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC on behalf of Moreno.Even though Moreno's supervisor praised her as a thorough and efficient worker, Frutoz-De Harne allegedly ordered that Moreno be fired after telling the manager that Moreno "looks old," "sounds old on the telephone," and is "like [...]