Dr. Carol Palackdharry has filed a lawsuit against CVS Health Corporation, Aetna Resources, LLC, and Dr. Jonathan Rubens in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on October 15, 2024. The complaint alleges discrimination based on sex, age, and disability, along with retaliation and wrongful termination under several federal and state laws.
The case revolves around Dr. Palackdharry's tenure at Aetna's ActiveHealth Management division where she served as Senior Medical Director. Despite her significant contributions to the company's healthcare programs and her exceptional performance record, Dr. Palackdharry claims she faced persistent discrimination from Dr. Jonathan Rubens, Chief Medical Officer of AHM. She recounts incidents where Dr. Rubens made derogatory comments about female colleagues' appearances and undermined her professionalism due to her disability-related accommodations.
In addition to gender-based discrimination, Dr. Palackdharry asserts that her age and disability were factors in the adverse treatment she received. She describes how her medical condition—extensive cervical and lumbar spine arachnoiditis—required specific workplace accommodations which were approved by CVS but later used against her by Dr. Rubens to question her work ethic.
Dr. Palackdharry further alleges that after voicing concerns about discriminatory practices within the company, she was subjected to retaliatory actions including exclusion from key meetings and negative performance evaluations orchestrated by Dr. Rubens. This culminated in what she terms as wrongful termination when her position was eliminated under questionable circumstances despite ongoing internal investigations into her complaints.
The lawsuit seeks various forms of relief including compensatory damages for lost wages and emotional distress, punitive damages for willful misconduct by the defendants, as well as an injunction against future violations of anti-discrimination laws by CVS Health Corporation and its subsidiaries.
Representing Dr. Palackdharry is attorney Jamie S. Franklin from C-K Law Group in Chicago. The case is being overseen by Judge Amrith Kaur Aakre under Case ID 1:24-cv-10256.