Local lesbian files discrimination charge against healthcare giant

Local lesbian files discrimination charge against healthcare giant
By Amy Wooten
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
July 16, 2009
http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/3703


A Buffalo Grove lesbian who telecommutes for UnitedHealth Group recently filed a discrimination complaint against her employer.

Laura Valenziano, 55, a 19-year veteran employee of UnitedHealth Group, filed a discrimination charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in June. Valenziano, a UHG telecommuter, alleges that she was discriminated against based on her sexual orientation, age, gender and perceived disability. UHG is a family of businesses including UnitedHealthCare, AmeriChoice, Ovations, OptumHealth, Ingenix and Prescription Solutions.

Valenziano told CFP that the trouble began last spring, when she began to report to a new manager. She said the relationship went very well until he met her in person during a work meeting held in Orlando.

“After that…things started to decline,” Valenziano said.

Valenziano is out in the workplace, and doesn’t hide that she lives with her longtime partner, Karen. Additionally, Valenziano and others have been working for several months to establish a GLBT affinity group for UHG employees. She said the proposal has since been put on hold by senior management.

After the meeting, the new manager allegedly began criticizing Valenziano. He also supposedly asked fellow co-workers invasive questions about her partner and questioned Valenziano about her health (she is a cancer survivor, and is gender non-conforming and heavy-set). According to Valenziano, the manager also asked her and others about co-workers’ ages and allegedly made comments to others that indicate he is uncomfortable with GLBT people.

By September 2008, the manager placed Valenziano, who had been in a managerial role for about 16 years, in an administrative position. Her duties were given to a younger employee. Her job grade was reduced from Grade 29 to Grade 28.

“This all came out of the clear blue,” Valenziano said, adding that prior to the meeting, she had years of good reviews. Also, before the meeting, the new manager never said anything negative about her job performance, Valenziano said. She quickly asked for copies of her personnel files and reviews. “Nothing was there that warranted a demotion,” she added.

While, according to Valenziano’s attorney Betty Tsamis, UHG denied it demoted Valenziano, her annual review allegedly acknowledged that the year had been difficult for her due to a demotion, and she was given a $5,000 bonus to help cope with the transition.

Initially, both Valenziano and Tsamis wanted to tackle the issue internally. However, the longtime employee was recently placed on corrective action. She was given 30 days to improve her performance, which, she was told, had been deemed “completely unacceptable.”

Valenziano told CFP that she recently filed the discrimination charge because “I don’t have any other choice.” Her attorney said they filed the charge to protect her job, which she continues to do despite the situation.

Valenziano’s attorney said she hopes UHG soon agrees to mediation. She would also like to see the company approve a GLBT affinity group.

UHG spokesperson Jeff Smith told CFP in an email that while the company can’t comment on the specific issue at hand, “we can confirm our strong policy against discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. It is significant that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), working to achieve equality for GLBT people, has awarded UnitedHealth Group a score of 95 percent on its corporate Equality Index, which rates companies on their record for GLBT employees.”

Smith added that the company is also developing a number of initiatives to retain, recruit and train employees over the age of 50.

Tsamis calls UHG’s reference to its HRC score “deceptive.” After all, HRC’s Corporate Equality Index scoring system doesn’t take into account discrimination claims filed by GLBT employees, such as a 2007 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) settlement against United HealthCare of Florida, Inc., which paid $1.8 million for the same-sex harassment and retaliation of a former male senior accounts executive.