On April 2, 2026, a Greenville jury slammed Prisma Health with a whopping $300,000 abuse of process verdict based on Prisma’s efforts to ruin an employee’s state licensure. Why? Because the employee needed to breast pump at work in order to feed her infant who had special medical requirements, which apparently inconvenienced her Prisma supervisors. Once the employee complained about the harassment, the retaliation started. [You can read the Jury Verdict Form (Manley v. Prisma Health) here.]
Congratulations to Virginia Williams of Williams & Williams in Orangeburg for this latest jury verdict!
Employee Gets Harassed for Needing to Pump Breast Milk at Work
The employee, Amber Manley, worked as a licensed speech-language pathologist for Prisma Health, starting in 2019, and working in Prisma’s ENT (ears, nose, throat) department. Speech-language pathology is licensed and administered by the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (LLR). Manley worked mostly with neck and head cancer patients as her area of specialty.
After having a baby, Manley returned from maternity leave in March 2020 with a need to pump breastmilk during the work day. In November 2020, Manley’s supervisor asked her to consider NOT pumping breastmilk during the day and instead pumping before and after work. Manley was not physically able to avoid pumping all day, which she told to her boss. Manley’s other supervisor retaliated by ordering the scheduler to override Manley’s regular breaks to pump breastmilk. A few months later, in January 2021, Manley’s supervisors told her she wasn’t working enough hours and had to begin clocking in and out, even though no other employee in the department was required to do so. Manley responded by making a complaint about the harassment and issues she’d experienced because of her need to pump breastmilk. She filed a formal complaint on January 29, 2021. Prisma said it would investigate.
After Manley Complained, Prisma Filed a Complaint with SC LLR Against Employee’s License
Prisma’s HR met with Manley’s supervisors to interview them about Manley’s complaints of harassment and retaliation. In response, her supervisors suddenly raised “concerns” about patient care by Manley. Within a few weeks, Prisma filed a complaint with LLR against Manley based on these newly raised patient care issues, although it appears that incorrect and incomplete information was provided to LLR. Prisma informed Manley of the LLR complaint on March 16, 2021. Two days later, Manley was let go and denied unemployment benefits. LLR ultimately dismissed the complaint (three years later!) against Manley’s license without any finding that Manley had done anything wrong.
After a trial, the jury determined that Prisma and its employees were liable of “abuse of process.” In order to win on that type of claim, a plaintiff has to prove (1) an ulterior purpose and (2) a willful act in the use of the process not proper in the conduct of the proceeding. In other words, the person or company had a shady motive and also took shady steps in the process. “Shady” is a obvs a legal term of ancient origin.
While we’re not privy to jury’s deliberations, we do get to see their response to the competing stories presenting by the employee and by Prisma. In this case, the jury found that Prisma’s actions were abusive and had caused damages to Manley in the realm of $300,000. The jury flat out did not believe the reasons offered up by Prisma. The jury also awarded damages of $3,000 against the individual supervisors (though for negligence, not abuse of process).
What Does Abuse of Process Normally Look Like for South Carolina Employees?
Abuse of process claims are not limited to the employment arena. You’ll often see them involved in criminal complaints as well. But I’m a South Carolina employment lawyer representing only employees–not companies–so you’ll have to bear with me for my interest in the employee side of things. For South Carolina employees, the most common kind of abuse of process you’ll see is very much like Amber Manley’s case: a false report to SC LLR. The state department handles the licensure of 139 different jobs, including the following broad categories:
- Health care professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, PT, psychology, etc.)
- Construction & trades (contractors, residential builders, electricians, HVAC, boiler safety, etc.)
- Business & financial professions (accountancy, real estate, appraisers)
- Personal services (cosmetology, barbers, massage)
- Professional services (engineers, architects, surveyors, foresters, geologists)
- Public protection / specialty licensing (athletic commission, pilotage, funeral services, etc.)
If you fall into one of those categories, your very livelihood depends upon maintaining your licensure with the state. So if a vengeful person or company wants to cause you harm, a well-timed complaint to LLR can be devastating. The employee often has to hire a lawyer to help defend her license, which causes additional expense on top of the stress and anxiety already present.
Hopefully, this type of verdict will send a message to employers across South Carolina that our juries, formed of fellow members of our community, find these types of abusive actions to be just as unacceptable as you or I do.
If you have experienced any similar type of abuse in your workplace related to your LLR licensure, feel free to contact my office at (864) 278-5389 or via my Contact Us page.
