Sankranthi

I. FACTS

In October 2016, Jessica Hatala, then an interim manager in the Clinical Document Improvement (CDI) Department at ECH, interviewed Sankranthi for a CDI Specialist position. The position consisted primarily of daily clinical review of records to ensure accuracy of the records and medical coding, and to communicate with physicians to obtain missing or conflicting medical record documentation. This is a function of the hospital’s Clinical Quality Department. Hatala recommended that Sankranthi be hired with a salary of $130,000 per year. Sankranthi asked for, and Hatala approved, a higher salary of $147,000 per year. Sankranthi began working in December 2016. Hatala knew that Sankranthi identified as female and that her national origin was Indian. Hatala also hired three other CDI specialists, T.B. (who like Sankranthi was a female from India), Y.C. (an Asian female), and F.S.2 (a Black/Nigerian male). In the beginning, according to Sankranthi, she and Hatala had a “great” working relationship. However, Hatala noticed some problems. According to Hatala, Sankranthi “exhibited significant difficulties in performing her duties as a CDI Specialist as well as significant…