Health Law News
Date Posted: September 2, 2025
Colorado registered nurse (RN) DonQuenick Yvonne Joppy was awarded $20M for wrongful termination due after registering a complaint about race discrimination with The Medical Center of Aurora. Tthe U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado found unanimously that Joppy’s termination was the result of both retaliation for her complaint about race discrimination and race discrimination itself. The $20M award included $5M for emotional distress, pain and suffering, humiliation, and damage to her reputation, and $15M in punitive damages to the hospital system for intentionally engaging in discrimination and retaliation.
See the full article at https://nurse.org/articles/nurse-donquenick-joppy-case/. If you are a nurse practitioner that requires legal representation for a racial discrimination or wrongful termination, as well as other health care related employment issues, please contact Marlene Garvis to see if we can help.
Attorney for Nurse Practitioner Professional Licensure
With a distinguished legal career spanning over 35 years, Marlene Garvis has been involved in nearly all aspects of health care, including being the Chair of the Health Law Practice Group at a Twin Cities law firm, a past President of the Hennepin County Bar Foundation, past President of Minnesota Women Lawyers and a Founding Fellow of the Hennepin County Bar Foundation.
Marlene has been a frequent speaker on health law, health care, nurse licensing and regulatory matters, as well as employment issues for nurses. She is an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline Law School in St. Paul, has been an adjunct faculty member of the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and continues to speak to nursing students at St. Catherine University.
Marlene has represented clients in litigation, consultation and administrative proceedings for health care professional licensure, employment litigation, discipline and regulatory proceedings and nurse licensure hearings. To see Marlene's full professional bio, please visit https://www.marlenegarvis.com/marlene-garvis.php.
Marlene is a member of The American Association of Nurse Lawyers, specializing in nurse licensure hearings in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa as well as other legal issues in health care industry.