A dentist who formerly worked in California prisons sued the state earlier this month, alleging she was retaliated against after raising concerns that other dental professionals neglected patients and performed irreversible procedures without consent.

Lindsay Hathaway, a dentist based in San Luis Obispo County, filed a complaint in the Sacramento County Superior Court earlier in January against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation alleging she was unfairly terminated in November 2023.

“Dr. Hathaway was concerned about a segment of our population that does not have recourse, and that’s prisoners,” said David Graulich, Hathaway’s attorney. “They are really at the mercy of the whims of the dentist and the dental staff.”

A letter to Hathaway from the Department of Health Care Services indicates that she was fired after violating several CDCR policies. Those included falsifying timesheets, working for an independent nonprofit and failing to disclose a personal relationship with a department director, who left civil service before the investigation’s findings were shared with Hathway.

In a statement, CDCR said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Hathaway began working for CDCR at California Men’s Colony in 2018. In the complaint Hathaway alleged that after attempting to improve patient care at CMC, she faced resistance from dental staff, who “were staunchly resistant to change.”

Hathaway alleged that her efforts resulted in defamatory accusations by support staff and a hostile work environment at CMC. As a result, a mental health practitioner placed her on medical leave in January 2020.

After her return, Hathaway was assigned to work in a non-clinic position in which she analyzed clinical records and evaluated the standard of care provided to patients incarcerated in prisons in Region III, which is based in Bakersfield.

Hathaway alleges that she documented dental malpractice, such as conducting tooth extractions without obtaining patients’ consent and improperly prescribing medication. She claimed dentists neglected patients’ acute dental issues that left them suffering in pain for weeks.

“There were situations where a procedure should have really been completed in one sitting because the person was suffering, and the dentist and the staff didn’t want to do it in one sitting,” Grumlich said. “They were running the schedule to their convenience and to suit their preferences, and not in terms of what was the standard of care for the patient.”

When dentists, whose clinical work Hathaway evaluated, learned of her reports, they responded positively and negatively. One wrote disparaging emails about Hathaway to dental management. Another wrote to Hathaway directly “to apologize for all of my bad actions,” according to the lawsuit.

In April 2022, an individual sent an anonymous email to CDCR, the governor’s office and media outlets accusing Hathaway and Morton Rosenberg, the statewide dental director at the time, of having a sexual relationship. The email included photographs that allegedly showed the director’s car in the parking lot of Hathaway’s condominium complex.

Hathaway denied the allegations and requested CDCR’s Office of Internal Affairs investigate the email later that month. She moved out of her home in San Luis Obispo County out of fear for her safety, the filing states.

According to the complaint, Hathaway learned in November 2022 that she was under investigation by the OIA. Hathaway was placed on medical leave the following month, due to mental distress.

In May 2023, Hathaway learned that the OIA investigation found she had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Rosenberg. The DHCS letter said photographic evidence of Rosenberg and Hathaway’s personal relationship was found on the dental director’s CDCR-issued cell phone.

DHCS also documented times and dates when Hathaway was working at her second job at the San Luis Obispo County Jail when she was on the clock for CDCR. Additionally, the letter stated she violated CDCR policy by failing to seek approval for working on a non-state related organization, Cat Land CA, a nonprofit that aims to help street cats. Grumlich said that Rosenberg was helping Hathaway run the nonprofit.

Hathaway denied all claims of CDCR policy violations made against her in the filing. She was terminated in November 2023. She appealed the decision with the personnel board the following April, which was denied in July 2024.

In the complaint, she stated that while she was terminated, Rosenberg was allowed to retire from CDCR with full pension and benefits in early 2023. Rosenberg’s LinkedIn profile shows that he left his role as the CDCR’s statewide dental director in February 2023, before Hathaway learned of the OIA investigation’s findings. Rosenberg did not return a request for comment.

Hathaway is seeking unspecified damages and requested the state cover her attorney fees.

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