TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida nurse working in the state's prison system says she was fired as retaliation for protected whistleblower activities.
A lawsuit was filed March 4 in Leon County Circuit Court against MHM Health Professionals LLC, Centurion of Florida LLC, and the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) by Jennie Cheney, a former employee.
Cheney alleges that she was wrongfully terminated due to her whistleblower activities. She claims that she was subjected to disparate treatment and retaliation after reporting unlawful employment practices within the organizations. T
Cheney began her employment with the defendants on November 8, 2021, as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). Her termination occurred on November 15, 2022. Cheney alleges that despite her excellent work performance, she was held to different standards after reporting unlawful activities.
An alleged Oct. 12, 2022, incident of an inmate who was stabbed but the on-call doctor was unreachable. The following day, she says she threatened to report an officer for assaulting an inmate.
Two weeks later, she was called in to the prison but then realized she'd been taken off the schedule for the rest of October and all of November. She was fired mid-November.
Marie Mattox is Cheney's lawyer.