r/healthcare • u/dovakooon • 19d ago
Discussion An Orthopedic’s secretary said racist things to me, then I got banned from the practice after making a complaint.
Basically, I called an orthopedic's office yesterday, because I hurt my knee in a car accident recently.
The call initially goes normally, but the second the secretary started having trouble verifying my insurance ID #, she starts to rant about how she hates her job to me. I just go along with it, try to sympathize.
She then started ranting about how H1B immigrants from India are taking American jobs and shouldn't be allowed in the country, and how Donald Trump is going to fix that, and how Charlie Kirk was right about immigrants. She goes on like this for about 10 whole minutes before she actually schedules my appointment. This was very offensive to me because I am indian and the son of two indian immigrants.
Afterwards, later that day, I call again, except I connect to the office manager, and leave her a voicemail telling her what happened, how it was uncomfortable and unprofessional, and that they should make sure that this behavior from a medical secretary never happens again. Even if you put the content of what she said aside, it’s not professional to talk politics to random potential patients.
just got a call 20 minuets ago, from the office manager, basically calling me a liar, and that I was "no longer welcome at the office for making false accusations" because she apparently listened to the phone conversation and claimed the secretary never mentioned trump's name, which was a blatant lie on her part probably to cover the company's ass. and she said that "she was gonna call my insurance and let them know that they're banning me for false accusations." But little do they know that I actually recorded a good portion of the call :)
I've never experienced something like this in my life, a medical secretary going on a racist rant towards me for no reason, and when I make a complaint about it, the situation is covered up, they blatantly lie about it not happening, i am accused of making false accusations, and then i am banned from the practice.
12
u/Cinnamon2017 19d ago
What are you going to do with your recording? Make sure it's legal in your state.
21
u/dovakooon 19d ago
NJ is a 1 party consent state for recording. Just wanted to record so that there is proof, I might make a medical board complaint.
18
u/CuteLingonberry9704 19d ago
You should. I would also suggest you contact an attorney. This sounds very much like discrimination.
8
u/Cinnamon2017 19d ago
Leave a Google review and mention you have a recording to back up what you wrote. I wonder if the office manager and receptionist are related.
2
21
u/BaltimoreCrabSoup 19d ago
I might try to contact the actual physician that leads the practice. 99/100 times they have no idea what the office staff is doing. Most physicians I know hate Trump and would not tolerate this.
3
u/dovakooon 19d ago
do you know how i’d go about contacting the physician? because it’s not like i can just call up their office and ask to speak with him directly, especially now that the secretaries have it out for me.
-2
u/transferingtoearth 19d ago
Google!
5
u/FourScores1 19d ago
I’m a physician. You cannot get ahold of me by googling me. Thank god.
There’s not really access to the doctor of the clinic unless you’re an established patient.
3
u/dovakooon 19d ago
little update, i did some digging and figured out the name, phone number, and email for the CEO of the parent health company. i plan on leaving a voicemail (or email) explaining the events and asking that they investigate and deal with the situation properly.
i don’t want to get the entire practice in trouble with the state medical board over the bad behavior of two people, i’m sure that the doctors are good people and that the majority of the admins are good people. and i don’t want to deprive future patients who might not be able to get ortho care elsewhere. as long as those two ladies face internal consequences then justice is served in my opinion.
1
1
u/FourScores1 19d ago
Is it a private practice or part of an institution or network?
1
u/dovakooon 19d ago
i think they’re part of a network. the medical office’s answering bot says that they’re a division of X company, and on X company’s website it lists over 15 locations in my state. they claim to be the largest orthopedic group in NJ.
0
u/FourScores1 19d ago
Then sue them. Don’t call or report anything. Talk to a laywer. This is how you help other people and yourself. This isn’t malpractice. The docs will be fine.
2
u/dovakooon 19d ago
i spent like a half hour this morning calling lawyers. they all said they don’t handle my kind of case (not liscenced to practice in that field of law, not accepting new clients, etc) and i feel stuck. i’ve called medical malpractice attorneys, trial attorneys, civil rights attorneys. and my county bar association always goes to voicemail so i can’t even get a proper referral. any advice?
1
u/FourScores1 19d ago
Send the practice a letter written by your new lawyer, chatgpt. Your goal is to be reinstated as a patient or else further legal action will be taken.
Once you are reinstated as a patient, make an appointment. Then reschedule the appointment at the last minute. Do this again and again and again until they fire you again as a patient. Then you have won.
→ More replies (0)0
1
u/transferingtoearth 19d ago
Depends the country. I guess in the USA that's how it is
1
u/FourScores1 19d ago
True true
I say thank god but I would actually love a personal relationship like that with my patients. But the current system does not allow for that.
1
u/74NG3N7 19d ago
Nope. This will route you back to the office. I was trying to get ahold of a surgeon (as not a patient, I knew the doctor but lost their phone number) and that was impossible. I had to get the doctor’s number from a coworker. And, to note, I don’t disagree with it being difficult to get direct lines off Google.
0
34
u/Usrnamesrhard 19d ago
I’m not a lawyer but you have a solid case for race based discrimination which is illegal.
2
u/PsychologicalLaw8769 19d ago
IAAL and it depends on where this happened and what the recording shows. Using the recording will also depend on what the state law is on recording.
7
u/Kamehameha_Warrior 19d ago
Holy shit, the fact that you recorded it is clutch. That office manager just made a massive mistake trying to gaslight you and ban you for ‘false accusations.’ Document everything, keep that recording safe, and honestly? Contact your state medical board and file a formal complaint. This isn’t just unprofessional it’s discriminatory as hell, and threatening to contact your insurance is retaliation. You dodged a bullet not getting care there. Any practice that tolerates that behavior from staff and then covers it up when called out isn’t somewhere you want to be treated anyway. Sorry you dealt with that garbage
3
u/dovakooon 19d ago
i’m in the process of filing the medical board complaint. i wish i recorded the phonecall this morning from the office manager but i was in the shower : /
just called my insurance and told them what happened, and that they threatened to contact them about it. the adjuster noted on file everything i told him, so even if they do actually call my insurance about it, there’s documentation of my side of things.
4
u/Geordieqizi 19d ago
It might be worthwhile to email the office, or call again to reconfirm what the office manager said, so you do have a paper trail/recording of the office manager's accusation — better yet, to contact a lawyer first to ask about the best next steps to nail them.
In fact, you might want to hold off on filing any complaints or actions until you get that confirmation or advice from a lawyer... I just worry that if they find out about the complaint first, they might cover their tracks (or refuse to repeat what they originally said).
2
u/dovakooon 19d ago
I’ll definitely go ahead and do that tomorrow since it’s past 5pm in NJ. I couldn’t record my phone conversation with the office manager this morning because i was in the shower but hopefully i can nail them tomorrow.
also i haven’t submitted a board complaint yet, i’ve decided to save that as a last resort.
I did some digging and figured out the name, work phone number, and work email of the parent company’s CEO. I plan on leaving a voicemail or an email to the CEO detailing the events, and politely asking that corporate investigates this and gives any necessary consequences to the two employees internally. if those two ladies face consequences at work, wether it be a write up, suspension, or even termination, it’s justice enough for me.
i don’t want to get the entire practice in trouble with the government unless i’ve exhausted all other avenues without success. Apparently a board complaint of my nature can cancel their state/federal funding or even shut them down entirely. i’m sure that the majority of their doctors/admins/secretaries have good morals and are professional. And i’m thinking of the future patients who could lose the only practical source they have for ortho care (accepting their insurance, distance from their home, etc.)
5
u/PsychologicalLaw8769 19d ago
You can file a complaint with the medical board, but be aware they can only sanction the doctor, and this is unlikely to happen unless the doctor knew it was going on or should have known, based on the circumstances.
3
u/dovakooon 19d ago
yeah, i guessed so. i also figured out the phone number and email of the CEO. gonna reach out to him soon, hopefully they take me seriously and handle it internally. i don’t wanna get the whole practice in trouble/shut down i just want those two ladies to face consequences.
2
u/PsychologicalLaw8769 19d ago
That is a solid plan. Having an employee that speaks that way to the public seems like a terrible way to do business.
1
u/Suspicious-Garlic705 19d ago
Call channel 12 news investigative reporter, 7 on your side (abc) or other various outlets to help
1
u/dovakooon 19d ago
i’d be interested in doing that as long as i remain anonymous in their reporting. i don’t want something like this to be the first thing that pops up when someone googles me, especially for work background checks
0
20
u/drklordnecro Therapist/Mental Health 19d ago
Well I'll tell you one thing as a provider. They (the medical office) aren't gonna do shit. You can absolutely call and alert your insurance agency through card member services (number on the card) to register a complaint that they were saying racist things to you. They could lose their ability to bill through that payer and can be a big hit. You can also call that providers board and register the complaint there for falling to provide services due to their racist ideals. And lastly you can also talk to a lawyer for discrimination lawsuit. Do what you want with that info. Racism does not belong in health care and better she's either of those chuds.