LEXINGTON, Ky. (WYMT) – A jury has awarded the former Chief Financial Officer of UK HealthCare more than $1 million, saying he was wrongly fired after raising complaints to UK, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
Sergio Melgar was hired at UK HealthCare in 2004.
According to reports, Melgar raised several complaints to UK Human Resources in 2012, including complaints about his salary.
He said his salary should have been closer to $533,000, which was the average salary at similarly-sized institutions. When he was hired as the CFO at UK HealthCare, Melgar’s salary was $330,000.
In February 2012, Melgar filed a formal complaint of discrimination and retaliation. He was fired in August 2012 and did not receive severance, according to a lawsuit.
He filed a lawsuit in 2017. It said his duties were reassigned after he started to complain.
The jury awarded Melgar $1.75 million. This includes $1.5 million in lost monetary benefits and $250,000 for emotional distress, according to Melgar’s attorney.
Melgar said, after many years, he is happy to see that his name has been cleared.
“I have to be very happy and pleased that my name is cleared of any improprieties,” Melgar said. “I was retaliated against for bringing up, at the time, very legitimate issues. I ended up being the victim of allegations, and all of the allegations have proven to be false.”
“We respectfully disagree with the decision reached yesterday, but will need time to further review before making any substantive comment,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said.
Melgar is currently the Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care System.
He said he still considers Kentucky to be home, and he hopes to retire in the Bluegrass State.
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