(AP) SACRAMENTO Thirteen former Kaiser Permanente custodians in Sacramento have sued the health care giant alleging racial discrimination.
The lawsuit claims that the September 2005 terminations of 12 blacks and a Fijian-Indian over timecard violations were racially motivated. It also alleges that preferential treatment was given to white employees for scheduling vacations or taking sick leave.
Kaiser denies the allegations, saying it also fired white employees for timecard fraud.
The workers who lost their jobs say they were not trained in the new timecard system Kaiser introduced last year and were given misinformation by other co-workers.
The rules were made clear to workers, Kaiser spokeswoman Kathleen McKenna said. The employees who were fired were calling in from outside the facility to clock in, fraudulently receiving pay for work not performed, she said.
In 2000, Kaiser’s parent company, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., settled a racial discrimination lawsuit in Cleveland for $235,000. The suit alleged that black clerical workers were discriminated against at a Kaiser hospital in Ohio.
Kaiser is also known for age discrimination.
Kaiser is well known for age and racial discrimination, even the diversity departments of KP know about it.
Out of all the workforce Latinos make up:
-only 3% of non-professional/non-management
-Less than 1% of mid-level management
-0% of upper-management
Althougth Latinos have a history of working for decades for KP, somehow the number of long-term employees that end up collecting retirement is substatially lower for Latino KP employees vs other races. There seems to be a policy of tripping up Latino employees before they are vested for retirement, or terminating them on trumped up charges so termination cancels the ability to collect retirement benefits after all the years of service.
There is a case in Colorado of a 28-year employee that tried to transfer to another region to finish up his years of service and eventually retire there (the region he was applying for). When after 60+ bids for jobs and 12 months with no success he asked if one of the reasons was him being Mexican American, the recruiter for the region compared him to the employees he had in a Tacqueria he used to own in Atlanta. The employee had been an Optical Dispenser for over 12 years, and was very offended by that comment among others.
The Colorado employee filed a complaint with the state civil rights commission, and within days he was jerked out of his position and put in a manual labor position, and dropped his pay over $600 a month. He tried to get his job back and also filed 2 retaliaiton complaints with EEOC. KP demoted him and gave him 28 business days to find a new position or he would be terminated, losing benefits he worked to receive after almost 3 decades of work. He found another position 1 day before he was to be terminated and is being paid substantially lower than the job he held before KP started messing with him. All 3 charges are active and are in the final investigation stage.
KP Corporate lets each region run themselves as they like, and just collect the profits each month. Management policy is lose paperwork, spread negative falsehoods (once they are out there , even when the truth is revealed, it’s impossible to erase them from the minds of co-workers and sabatoges any advancement), and wear people down mentally and finacially.
The Colorado employee told me he was told by one of his former manager’s henchmen (who has flipped because she was screwed over by the same manager) that he has surprised everyone, they did all they could to try to get him to quit. It will be interesting to see how many more people start turning “state’s evidence” when their jobs are on the line.
If those are national statistics, that should raise some major red flags since over 25% of California’s population is Latino, that being Kaiser’s biggest region. I don’t know much about Colorado’s demographics.
It has been alleged that Kaiser’s IT deparmtment has an explicit policy against hiring Latinos at all, as was reported in this post.
Cruz Bustamante is running for Insurance Commissioner in California this year. I think he would be very interested in hearing from people who have been discriminated against by Kaiser.
Latinos (and everyone else for that matter!) need to get to the polls in November and be heard!
Look Into Hawaii Kaiser Region, discrimination against Afro Americans. Made up accusations and fired them. Shameful.
As a new loyee at KP, I have had to endure unimaginable harrassment by other employees. I am African American, and only one of two African American nurses on my shift. I have to deal daily with ridicule, being put down, gossip, intimidation, and just outright harrassment. I am still on orientation, but I have learned that the plan is to terminate me because of the reviews of one of my 4 preceptors that I cannot keep up with the pace. I am wondering if this is grounds for termination. I’ve only worked there for 3 weeks! My patients have been asked to evaluate me and none of them has had a single negative comment. It should be noted that this is not a new occurence here at KP Sacramento. The manager oven says so, of the relationship between old and new employee. My question is, why is this tolerated?
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boo hoo. what a load of garbage. people alwys cry about racial discrimination when they are incompetent and cant accept responsibility for it. Kaiser has 100’s of employees of all races. the one’s complaining here obviously just looking for a free lunch.
I’ll take a wild guess that Mark is a white man.
I have been with Kaiser for about one month at the San Diego facility and racism is very much alive. I am an African American and on a daily basis, I deal with ridicule, being put down, gossip, intimidation, and just outright harassment. I recently filed a complaint with HR and compliance. Things are not much better. How can a company that stands for culture diversity be so wrong?
three afro american women were fired from the kaiser permanente’s psychiatry department in northern california within the last 12 months.
Does anyone know a good lawyer to sue Kaiser for racism and discrimination in Southern California?
Thank you.
I’ve worked for Kaiser as healthcare provider and I never in my life experienced the amount of racism that Kaiser stands for. There is an astounding amount of preferential treatment based on race. I would never recommend this organization to work for nor do I see it as an organization that stands for diversity. Kaiser is a criminal organization with criminal heads that can plot and ruin healthcare provider’s careers.
Racism is a alive and well in the workplace at Kaiser. African Americans are especially treated differently. Over the 5 years, I been with the company I have seen 6 African Americans terminated(3 were senior level) for what no one knows. I have witnessed one African American who complained about racism being ostracized and black listed. In the same amount of time I have seen one white person and no Asian or Latinos terminated. When I voiced my concern over racial discrimmination the company took it upon themselves to investigate the matter. But all that happened is all of the Latinos and Asians got mad at me and now I am working in an environment where I do not feel safe and know that co-workers hate me and my manager is out to get me. As far as I am concerned they may as well have sent a lynch mob of klu klux klans people after me.
I agree with Feroz and downanout, about a year has passed, and I am still suffering from discrimination I experienced with Kaiser. I too, am a healthcare provider and I’ve never felt so humiliated by this organization. I am not sure how and why they can get away with what they do. Is there any other minorities, whether be Muslim or non white that has a class action law suit?
I agree with Feroz an Zal also Mya Mutta.
I too felt discrinnation an was a new employee. I’m trying to seek a Lawyer now.
There was definitely a prefrential treatment and Hostility in certain environment. yet, I feel hopeless and Actions needs of Measure should be formed an changed for this to not happen to others…..
ATTENTION – TO THOSE WHO’VE EXPERIENCED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION from KP!!
I’m on a crusade to get justice and working on getting legal representation for a CLASS ACTION lawsuit. Please contact me at: d l b j 5 9 at yahoo dot com.
Thanks!
well I went to see a KP doctor today and the receptionist ask what country I was born in and what race I was sad thing is I am caucasian and so was the receptionist
KP is the place where minority being discriminated. What’s new with KP. You all need to file to govt office.
I did Sac. And the gov agencies say they will not protect against retaliation. Kaiser can make up anything against you. They bought all the attorneys. Kaiser is not a place for minorities and in my case, a muslim and a minority, which is a double whammy these days…
kaiser permanente san jose is doing age, race and disability discrimination as we speak….with all the advertisement about how good of doctors they have..why cant they hire competent staff who know the law as well as their job or is it normal to hire DUMB ASS people at all kaiser facilities?
I Was A Victim Of Racism AT LAMC Kaiser. I Was Fired Earlier This Year And Now Seeking Unions Help In The Grievance. I Was Wrongfully Terminated For Health Reasons And The Color Of My Skin. I Can Remember I Use To Feel Nauseated Before I Would Actually Pull In The Parking Lot… Walking Up That Hill Almost Having An Anxiety Attack Because Of What I Knew I Was Going To Have To Endure On My 8 Hour Shift. I Will Be Looking Into Suing When The Union Is Done Doing Nothing As Usually.
Why does Kaiser have preferential treatment? What is their issue with minorities? Ask that minority if a white person commits the same mistake, they get a slap on the wrist, but if its someone of another race, it becomes a mountain not a mole hill. This explicit behavior shows a criminal organization. Very simple solution. Minorities and Muslims, as people of color and different belief, WE NEED TO STOP BUYING MEMBERSHIP WITH KAISER!!!!!!
Kaiser in the Portland area is still up to these old tricks too. I (Latino) was a temp-to-hire with three white people in an area with no Latinos. After six months, they got rid of me and hired the three white people. Other people in the area made it known to management and union that they didn’t want another “mexican” in the area. Kaiser people want to keep things white and bright.
Racist and religious bigotry is how you thrive in kaiser. We minorities should boycott kaiser.
I’m ready to do what ever two transfers of California both is people of Color was released from Kaiser before their probation period ended.
One was on bereavement the other only had one week left. For her probation period
Is Kaiser known for practicing ageism ? I am now finally 65 years old and I have noticed that in the last 3 years I seem to be having more and more visibility to new management in my department – as though I, and my work production are being “re-evaluated.” I am fairly sure that Kaiser practices discrimination – but I feel as though I am being “forced to retire.” I will check back for comments.
I’ve heard of KP forcing myself people to retire. If you feel that’s what they are doing…good chance they ar
I’m asking if anybody that work for a supervisor name Patrick Dodgen-Bower and if you know that you have been discrimination from her
Had an incident at work Kaiser Permanente Walnut Creek about 2 yrs ago where i was accused of racist comments. Even though ther were 3 other people in the conversation, 2 Caucasian and 1 Filipino, i was the only one placed on administrative leave and subsequently punished.
I believe Kaiser discourages some minorities from getting care at their facilities. In my experience, my family was constantly turned away from getting even basic care from them, did I mention I was a 20 plus member. How is this okay?
I work at multiple Kaiser locations and I can safely say, CONSERVATIVELY, 90% of the employees are COMPLETELY racist. They openly make racist remarks against Asian people constantly. It’s really sad and pathetic. They just think the Asians don’t understand. I’ve even heard Doctors and Nurses make remarks, not just the support staff. They license their security with a third party and the security team is the most racist of all. The funny thing is Filipinos are totally racist against Asians. Even when you walk through the front door, you’ll hear people making racist remarks. All the supervisors know and encourage this kind of behavior. I personally would never get any kind of treatment at a Kaiser facility. I know how incompetent and uncaring they really are. In LA, Most positions are held by Hispanics and Filipinos. Other races are forced out, eventually. The amount of unprofessionalism I have seen on a daily basis would surprise you. Beware of Kaiser. The employees are evil. That’s putting it mildly.