The one-time chief medical officer for San Diego County has sued his former employer in federal court.
In a complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Dr. Nicholas Yphantides claimed county officials "harassed" him for taking medical leave due to stress from the COVID-19 pandemic, required an invasive "fitness for duty" examination and fired him before he could take it.
According to the complaint, Yphantides said he hit a "metaphysical 'wall'" in Oct. 2020 after months of long hours, "twinned with misery and death encountered every day" in his work overseeing the county's COVID-19 public health response.
Due to what the doctor described as stress-induced insomnia, depression and "crippling anxiety," he was forced to take a four-week medical leave of absence.
Yphantides said when he returned to work, county leadership viewed the doctor as "damaged goods who had cracked under the pressure." He claimed what followed was a period of extreme scrutiny intended to "manufacture proof" that he was no longer an asset to the county.
When county officials reportedly demanded he undergo a "fitness for duty" or FFD examination, his employment was terminated before he could complete it.
The lawsuit alleged the FFD exam was an "unlawful medical and psychological inquiry" and Yphantides' termination constituted disability discrimination and interference with the right to medical leave.
Yphantides is seeking damages in the form of lost wages and benefits, losses in earning potential as a physician, and attorneys' fees.
Counsel for San Diego County has not yet responded to the suit.
