Corwin Harper, Vice President of Central Valley Kaiser

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. 

Edith Fillon In 209 Times Facebook video interview.

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.