Abbott Laboratory in Westbrook. Photo courtesy of Abbott Laboratory

Two former Abbott Laboratories employees have sued the company, claiming managers retaliated against them after they outed the Scarborough plant for rushing COVID-19 tests, including defective ones, to the public.

The women allege the company retaliated by creating a hostile environment, failing to accommodate their disabilities and not allowing them to work from home. At the time, the company was requiring its employees to work in the office four days a week.

In two separate federal lawsuits filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland, Jennifer Campinell, of Durham, and Jessica Mayhew, of Minot, accused the medical device manufacturing company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Maine Human Rights Act and the Maine Whistleblower Protection Act. They are both represented by Laura White and Danielle Quinlan, attorneys out of Kennebunk.

Campinell has anxiety and depression, while Mayhew has anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (which includes a strong startle response) and a fainting disorder, according to the lawsuits.

Both women said the company’s refusal to accommodate their disabilities and resulting retaliation and a hostile work environment exacerbated their symptoms. They could not be reached through their attorney to discuss their complaints.

Abbott has denied the women’s claims. In a short emailed statement, the company said it “promotes and values a welcoming work environment and is committed to fair treatment of all its employees” and called the lawsuits “without merit.”

DEFECTIVE TESTS

Campinell and Mayhew were hired as a quality assurance engineer and specialist, respectively, in 2020, right as the Chicago-based company was ramping up production of COVID-19 test kits, including BinaxNOW and ID NOW rapid tests. By late 2021, Abbott was producing more than 50 million tests per month.

The company made $7.7 billion from the sale of global testing supplies in 2021, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report for that year.

According to Campinell’s lawsuit, part of her role as a quality assurance lead was to decrease the number of defective tests that reach shelves. She was tasked with creating new processes to prevent poor-quality products from leaving the facility. Mayhew was also on the team.

Campinell said she discovered over four months that up to 33% of the lots produced at the Scarborough facility were defective but were being released to the market without any corrective action. Industry standard and FDA expectations are less than 10% of products, according to the lawsuit.

During the height of the pandemic, many companies making tests, swabs, masks and other needed equipment were allowed to ramp up production to quicker-than-normal rates to address the urgent need for the supplies.

Abbott’s rapid tests were fast-tracked through the FDA for emergency use, and in 2020, the company entered into a $750 million contract with the White House to provide 150 million tests.

In the suit, Campinell alleged that when she presented her findings to leadership, she was met with “opposition, hostility and public insults.”

She later presented the results to corporate leadership and indicated that the failure was due in part to lack of training, lack of personnel qualification, and pressure from corporate to ship product and put it on the market, despite the product being defective.

“Personnel and departments who shipped product and moved reports through extremely quickly were frequently rewarded with praise and bonuses,” according to the lawsuit. “No bonuses or public praise were provided to personnel who slowed down production in order to ensure product is in conformity with standards, effective and safe.”

‘BULLYING’ AND RETALIATION

Campinell claims that management and co-workers retaliated against her for alerting corporate leaders to these issues and for implementing a new training process that “took too much time,” according to the lawsuit. She said she was met with “unprofessional, bullying behavior,” called stupid and yelled at.

The negative work environment heightened her depression and anxiety, and she requested a change to her schedule to allow more days working from home. She worked remotely when she was first hired, so she knew she could perform her responsibilities at home. Plus, all meetings were conducted over videoconferencing, she said.

In the suit, Campinell said the company denied her requests to work remotely, despite having sufficient support from her primary care physician, and treated her with public disdain and harassment.

Mayhew’s lawsuit closely mirrors Campinell’s complaints: refusal to allow four days of remote work, retaliation, and treating with disdain.

Both women claim the company offered them noise-canceling headphones and other solutions that did not address the root cause of their issues.

Mayhew also said she was not allowed to switch desks with a colleague that would have put her back to windows, rather than a high-traffic area. She alleged that she was rated lower than her co-workers and was passed over for a promotion because of her mental health.

Both women said they were “constructively discharged,” meaning they left due to “intolerable working conditions” in 2022. Mayhew left after three months of short-term disability leave.