EEOC Sues Eastern Shore Healthcare Provider for Sex Discrimination

BALTIMORE - TidalHealth, operator of the TidalHealth McCready Pavilion, a medical services and assisted living facility in Crisfield on Maryland's Eastern Shore, violated federal law when it disciplined and fired a female employee for conduct for which it did not discipline or terminate a male employee, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, TidalHealth suspended and then terminated a longtime female employee and van driver for a van lift incident mere months after a male van driver was involved in a nearly identical van lift incident. The male employee was not disciplined or terminated.

"While employers are free to maintain performance and disciplinary standards, applying them in a sex-discriminatory manner violates federal law," said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC's Philadelphia District. "The employer's decision to fire a woman for conduct that did not result in any discipline of a similarly situated man reflects unequal treatment, which is unlawful."

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, Inc., and TidalHealth, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-02201-ABA) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Northern Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination .

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC's Baltimore Field Office, one of four component offices of the agency's Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and portions of Virginia.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government's employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .