Ephraim McDowell Health, Inc., Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, Inc., and EMHFL, Inc., a healthcare system headquartered in Danville, Kentucky, will pay $335,000 and provide other relief to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. According to the suit, around October 2021, Ephraim McDowell rejected a female employee’s bid for promotion to an administrator position when the system’s CEO told her men work better with men and it was best to have a male in the position. The CEO instead appointed a male to the administrator position and the female to a lower-paying position reporting to the newly promoted male. The EEOC further charged that, after the female employee filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC, Ephraim McDowell retaliated against her by firing her in December 2022.