FAIRFIELD, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCHA surgeon is taking legal action against a hospital in eastern Iowa, claiming that hospital administrators discriminated against her due to her gender, terminated her employment, and subsequently made a false claim that she had voluntarily left her position.
Dr. Beth Hothan-Zielinski from Henry County has taken Jefferson County Health Center of Fairfield to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The lawsuit stems from a civil rights complaint she lodged against the hospital in November 2024.
The legal complaint states that Hothan-Zielinski was employed by the hospital as a general surgeon starting in April 2013. The lawsuit further alleges that for the subsequent 11 years, Hothan-Zielinski fulfilled her duties, often serving as the hospital's sole general surgeon.
The legal complaint states that in November of 2021, Dr. Scott Stoeger was hired by the hospital as another general surgeon. Stoeger departed Jefferson County in November of 2023. Then, in September of 2024, Hothan-Zielinski purportedly discovered that the hospital had compensated him significantly more for performing identical work.
The legal action asserts that despite Stoeger finishing medical school in 2013, while Hothan-Zielinski had 38 years of experience as a general surgeon, Stoeger's annual base salary was $480,000, exceeding Hothan-Zielinski's pay by $105,000.
The lawsuit asserts that Stoeger lacked the background, training, expertise, or further certifications that would have warranted the disparity in compensation. Furthermore, the suit alleges that the hospital presented Stoeger with a non-negotiable offer of $480,000, a $20,000 signing bonus, yearly student loan assistance, and a $6,000 yearly retention bonus for a period of five years.
Hothan-Zielinski claims she didn't receive either a signing bonus or a retention bonus.
The legal complaint further claims that Jefferson County Health Center provides surgeons with incentive payments determined by a formula that incorporates Relative Value Units (RVUs). RVUs are designed to represent the amount of work and effort a doctor puts into patient care. Generally, a physician's income and the hospital's revenue increase with the number of RVUs they accumulate.
According to the lawsuit, on September 11, 2024, hospital head Bryan Hunger informed Hothan-Zielinski that her contract would not be extended beyond 2025. The legal filing states that "Dr. Hothan-Zielinski was taken aback" and that Hunger subsequently blamed her "productivity" for the decision.
According to the legal complaint, Hothan-Zielinski subsequently "gave a large file with her surgery figures" to the hospital's board of directors and "fought for her job" in a public forum, contending that the hospital had miscalculated her RVUs.
The legal complaint asserts that she was terminated regardless. It continues, "The official record of the meeting stated that Dr. Hothan-Zielinski had stepped down, which was untrue. Dr. Hothan-Zielinski never actually resigned."
The legal action claims breaches of the Iowa Civil Rights Act regarding gender, sex, and pay inequities, alongside infringements of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The plaintiff is pursuing compensation for wage losses, in addition to triple damages as a result of the discriminatory practices.
The hospital hasn't yet submitted its answer to the lawsuit. The case was initially brought in state court last month but was moved to federal court this week. Attempts to get comments from the hospital's representative and its lawyers involved in the case on Friday afternoon were unsuccessful.
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