On April 3, former Dartmouth Health chief quality and value officer Carol Barsky filed a lawsuit against Dartmouth Health in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire. The publicly-filed complaint alleges that Dartmouth Health wrongfully terminated Barsky for presenting her safety concerns regarding medical equipment used at the hospital. The case, which also alleges that Dartmouth Health president Joanne Conroy “bullied and harassed” Barsky for attempting to “mitigate the safety risks” Barsky exposed, has not been heard in court.
Barsky claims in the lawsuit that her termination was “highly irregular” and that she was “excluded” from “critical meetings, opportunities and decisions” prior to her termination, and that the “exclusion was deliberate.”
The next step for the defendant — Dartmouth Health, which includes Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, made up of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic and Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and Dartmouth Health, all of which are named in the filing — is to provide a response in which they confirm or deny the statements made in the complaint, New Hampshire Association for Justice board member and personal injury and employment lawyer David Buckley said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Buckley is not affiliated with the lawsuit.
On April 24, the defendants added attorney Victoria Breese to their party and received court approval to extend their response time. The date is not publicly available.
Barsky began working for Dartmouth Health in 2021. On Jan. 17, 2025, Dartmouth Health’s Board of Trustees requested that Barsky investigate potential defective products purchased from the “grey market” — outside of the manufacturer’s authorized channels, posing risks to the products’ quality and warranty. This was “one of three” investigations of the company’s supply chain, according to the complaint. Barsky was not responsible for the other two, which were “independent.”
According to Barsky’s complaint, Dartmouth Health’s claim that she was fired as a result of “disruptive, unprofessional and insubordinate conduct” was “pretextual.” She alleged in the lawsuit that their motive for firing her was her finding that there were potential risks to patient and employee safety resulting from the use of unfit equipment. She first formally presented her preliminary findings to the board in February 2025 and then a report to the full board in April 2025, during which Conroy “interrupted, contradicted and otherwise censored” Barsky’s presentation. Throughout the summer of 2025, as she worked on solutions for the supply chain issue, Conroy’s treatment of her “continued to deteriorate,” according to the claim.
When asked for comment, Barsky referred The Dartmouth to public filings.
In her investigation, Barsky concluded that “significant gaps” and “questionable practices” in the supply chain led Dartmouth Health to purchase products whose safety was “unverified,” the complaint reads.
In a statement to The Dartmouth, Dartmouth Health media relations director Audra Burns said the corporation has “rigorous” standards for quality and safety.
“We continuously and comprehensively evaluate all our medical supplies in use across our system today to ensure we are best equipped to deliver high-quality, safe experiences for our patients, employees and communities,” she wrote.
Buckley explained that Barsky made three allegations against the DHMC in her complaint.
The first is wrongful termination, for which Barsky would have to prove her “employer was motivated by bad faith, by malice or retaliation,” Buckley said. The second is a violation of the New Hampshire Whistleblower Protection Act, which prohibits retaliation against employees who “report violations of law” to their employer. The third is “retaliation” under the Federal False Claims Act, which penalizes companies for false claims.
He added that this third count is the reason why the claim was filed in federal court, and that usually federal claims “don’t have to be” as detailed as Barsky’s is. Hers is “extremely thorough,” Buckley said.
“I believe that was done purposely to put the hospital on notice that she plans on seeing this through, that this is not some disgruntled employee who’s trying to shake the hospital down,” he said.
Buckley added that this lawsuit could be an “attack” on either party’s reputation, depending on how it resolves. For Barsky, her termination, if found to be legitimate, could limit her future career options. If Buckley is able to prove her termination was wrongful, “the tables [will] have turned” for Dartmouth Health and the organization’s reputation as a “major player” in New Hampshire healthcare.
For Dartmouth Health, documentation of the concerns and warnings against Barsky is “important,” because otherwise her claims about the lack of pretext will be “very persuasive,” Buckley said.
Barsky and Dartmouth Health declined further comment to The Dartmouth, pending pursuits of “available legal options,” according to Burns on behalf of the defendants.
Kay Alvito ’29 is a news reporter from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil studying comparative literature and creative writing. On campus, she is very involved with the arts as a member of the Rude Mechanicals classical theatre company and the dance group Street Soul.
