Piedmont Macon faces lawsuit from former employee, alleging retaliatory firing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former director sues Piedmont Macon, alleging race and gender-based discrimination.
- Lawsuit claims HR ignored complaints after staff allegedly made racist remarks.
- The former director received a performance plan during leave, then was later terminated.
A former employee of Piedmont Macon Medical Center sued the hospital Monday, saying she is being retaliated against for reporting instances of racial discrimination, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court.
Rendi Solis, who is Black and the former director of inpatient services at Piedmont Macon, accused the hospital of discriminating against her because of her race and gender, subjecting her to a hostile work environment that later ended in the alleged retaliatory firing.
She further argued that, during the time she was on leave to take care of her disabled mother, she was issued a performance plan by Piedmont Macon, which violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff’s workload was increased without justification,” the lawsuit said. “She was excluded from leadership discussions; her performance was unfairly scrutinized; and she was held to standards not applied to similarly situated white colleagues.”
Solis, through attorney Jesse Kelly, is requesting a jury trial and seeking damages.
Representatives of Piedmont Macon Medical Center have not responded to requests for comment prior to publication. A lawsuit only represents one side of an argument and Piedmont hadn’t filed a reply in court records as of Wednesday morning.
Allegations of racist jokes
After two instances of alleged racism from two of her coworkers, one of whom was her superior, around May 2023, Solis said she reported their conduct to Piedmont Macon’s human resources department. One colleague had allegedly danced to Dr. Dre and asked Solis if she liked his “Crip Walk,” and another asked if her bracelets were her shackles, comments that Solis found offensive, according to the lawsuit.
But the department “took no remedial action,” according to the lawsuit. Instead, her superior “increased Plaintiff’s workload without justification,” the lawsuit said.
Her superior then accused Solis of mishandling resident care, even though Solis insists in the lawsuit that she had not. And, although she requested clarification and coaching from them, they refused both, according to the lawsuit.
On another occasion, Solis was interrupted from contributing to a discussion by an executive member, who believed they knew what Solis would say and did not allow her to speak, the lawsuit said.
But, even though she reported the situation to HR, they took no action. Instead, she was stripped of control over the diabetes education and house telemetry departments, according to the lawsuit.
Was issued a performance plan during leave
Solis had to go on a brief leave toward the end of August 2023 when her mother’s health declined to the point she was put on end-of-life hospice care, the lawsuit said. She returned to work in November 2023.
The month before, however, Solis said she was issued a 60-day performance improvement plan, which alleged that her department had issues with time-sensitive medication. But she argued “all departments were facing similar issues,” and her department “was performing better than others,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that other male leaders at Piedmont Macon were not disciplined for the same issues.
Solis further alleged that the performance plan she was given set hidden and unrealistic expectations, and yet, she “complied with all expectations set,” according to the lawsuit.
But, even though her superior told Solis that she was progressing well, he would ask difficult questions she couldn’t answer to belittle her in front of other employees, according to the lawsuit. She was also accused of allowing staff to sleep on duty and calling security to check cameras without cause, according to the lawsuit.
Her superior then told Solis in November 2023 that she “had never been on track with improvement,” but refused to discuss her progress or give her a chance to respond, the lawsuit said.
And, even though her department was recognized as top-performing in the system, she was terminated, according to the lawsuit.
“(Piedmont Macon’s) adverse actions were taken in direct retaliation for Plaintiff’s complaints of discrimination and her opposition to unlawful employment practices,” the lawsuit said. “There is a causal connection between Plaintiff’s protected activity and the adverse employment actions taken against her.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM.
