STOCKTON- Central Valley Kaiser Vice President Corwin N. Harper has refused to answer numerous emails in regards to Nurse Edith Fillon’s grievances. But with public pressure mounting, he finally responded to a media request with a carefully crafted response that read in part:
“We can confirm that Kaiser Permanente did not require or request Ms. Fillon to work while using a wheelchair, and that we have thoroughly reviewed the care provided by Ms. Fillon. The claim that Ms. Fillon was denied leave is a mischaracterization. Ms. Fillon was granted all of the time off that she requested.”
Mr Harper’s statement further denied that Kaiser has a compensation policy that incentivizes executives like himself to manage employee sick leave.
As Doctor Goffa Beh correctly documented on 9/20/18 and 9/21/18, Edith Fillon’s condition required a “walker at all times” and her left leg weakness was “worsening”. And although Dr Beh said Nurse Edith should “avoid work for now”, according to Edith, Dr. Beh openly argued that it was her primary care physician, not him, who should grant Edith sick leave. According to Edith, her primary care physician, Dr Kermin Zhang, argued it was Dr. Beh’s responsibility.
Edith’s medical condition has caused both obvious physical and cognitive deficits, and as Dr. Beh wrote back in September, it’s “worsening”. Edith can no longer use a walker. Our sources tell us Kaiser’s army of attorneys are banking on that Edith will most likely not be able to handle the stress of cross examination.
We determined Edith’s recollection of events and timelines she gave us are not 100% concise. She does get confused about dates. Our investigation does fully support Edith’s primary assertion that she did in fact work in a wheelchair prior to her brain surgery and that the paperwork proves three doctors , all who knew Edith had a symptomatic 5 cm brain tumor, refused to place her off work prior to that brain surgery that was performed on 10/18/18. As we reported in a previous article, a January 2019 Kaiser FMLA denial letter stated that her Health Care Provider Certification “did not meet the definition of a serious medical condition”. According to Mr. Harper, Kaiser never denied Edith leave.
In this video, it is Edith’s husband who is interviewing her. 209 Times decided to also interview Edith, but off camera:
“I tried to respond to a heart attack from my wheelchair as fast as I could, otherwise the patient was going to die, but I was worried I was going to break my leg. If I broke my good leg, I wouldn’t be able to walk at all. None of my doctors would put me off work. I didn’t want to lose my medical insurance because I knew I was going to need it. I didn’t know what to do so I came to work.”
When we asked Edith why she was coming forward she said, “I don’t want other nurses to be placed in this situation.”
We are not asking Vice President Corwin N Harper if they “required or requested” Edith to work in a wheelchair. We are asking him why did Kaiser allow it? We cordially invite Mr Harper or anyone from Kaiser Permanente to answer that question.
Comments 6
“I believe Corwin Harper” said no one ever.
Let me get this right. If a Kaiser Oncologist sees a patient having a heart attack, it’s ok for that doctor to ignore it and say it a Kaiser Cardiologist’s responsibility since it’s heart related. And so passing the buck is ok with Kaiser. Do all of their doctors not stand up for patients and say it’s up to the other guy to fix it. Why don’t they have the ethical integrity to say they are grossly negligent and immediate fix it. If they eat their own, one can only imagine what they think about and do to non-employees. Edith Fillon gave her life to Crooked Kaiser and now they are taking her life. Patients beware, pathetic.
It’s a shame this woman had to fight for health care period! She should have not had the deal with working period after being told she had stage four brain cancer. Just hearing her story makes me sad. Kaiser is trying to cover up what happened. It’s sad how big Corporations can treat people. ! One who dedicated their life in helping others has to worry about insurance covering them now !
This is an Outrage I cant imagine being a nurse in a wheelchair and trying to attend to patients escpecially in an emergency. As a nurse Im sure that affected her pride and mentally messed with her. After dedicating her life to help others her own Company denies her help. I personally dont like Kaiser. This is unbelievable. So sorry Edith I hope you get Justice. God Bless You.
When I was diagnosed with lung cancer my treating physician ( Oncologist ), was the Dr. that put me on leave from work.
My primary care Dr. had absolutely nothing to do with my cancer treatments.
Even now I have a questionable area of concern regarding whether or not it may be cancer.
My primary care Dr. wants me to meet with my Oncologist since that’s his specialty.
Absolutely any physician with a conscience would not of allowed Edith to
be at work.
My biggest gripe these days is the Drs. don’t communicate with each other.
Your talking about a woman with a brain tumor. These two Drs. couldn’t
Communicate about Edith’s leave? One phone call. Healthcare has gone
down the tubes.
Something is missing here. I am retired Kaiser HR and worked closely with time off and leave policies. They follow leave laws and policies by the book. Unless this is a HUGE one off by some renegade manager. However, as far as this report goes, it makes no sense.
Under FMLA, there is no requirement to disclose ANY medical personal information (in fact, it’s discourage). Your doctor needs to provide a note that the employee needs to be excused from work from xx date to xx date only.
To be eligible for FMLA the employee must have been employed with the company for 12 months. The employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of FMLA leave. It’s unclear if Ms. Fillion met those requirements.
The reporter here needs to provide much more information to even start making a case for Ms. Fillion. If she was mistreated, I am sure it will be revealed and she will receive what is due.
In any case, I hope she is able to get resolution and that she is recovers.