I have been shocked at the unwillingness of Kaiser Permanente to make any effort to remediate problems that are brought to its attention. The people I have complained to have immediately thrown up a stone wall. Will this verdict cause Kaiser to respond differently to complaints? Will the persons responsible be fired? I doubt it.
Jury awards $7.5M more to former Kaiser doctor
Mercury News
The Associated Press
12/11/2008
A Los Angeles jury has ordered Kaiser Permanante to pay $7.5 million in punitive damages to a radiologist who was forced to resign from one the company's hospitals in 2006 after complaining about patient care.
The jury's decision on Thursday means Kaiser owes Dr. Michael Martinucci a combined $11.4 million. The same panel on Monday awarded the doctor $3.9 million in compensatory damages.
Kaiser says it will appeal Thursday's decision, saying it was "shocked and disappointed by the verdict."
Martinucci sued Kaiser after leaving the company, claiming he was forced to quit because he complained about work standards at the Hollywood hospital.
Martinucci was hired at Kaiser in 2003 and resigned three years later after his supervisor and a human resources staffer accused him of being racist and making sexual advances toward a male technologist.
