LANSING, Mich. — In a virtual press conference Tuesday, Alexis Phillips, a family nurse practitioner at Kozmic Family Practice in Lansing, detailed the alleged sexual harassment her and another employee experienced at the hands of Dr. Joseph Kozlowski.
Phillips and Dr. Sarah Denham, who also works at Kozmic Family Practice, have filed a charge of discrimination against the practice's owner, Capital Internal Medicine Associates, with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"I love being a family nurse practitioner... I don't know how much longer I can do this though," said Phillips. "I'm exhausted at the beginning of the day going into work for people who don't care about my mental or physical safety."
Phillips says the sexual harassment began when she was in school.
She said she was a student of Dr. Kozlowski in 2018 when, "Dr. Kozlowski was asked how I was doing and if I was ready to graduate. Doctor Kozlowki responded, 'Well, she won't let me have sex with her yet'."
Phillips said she went on to work for Dr. Kozlowski as a nurse practitioner for Kozmic Family Practice in October 2018.
He was her collaborating physician assigned to review and sign off on her patient charts.
"His behavior was mild at first, he would say something sexually explicit as another woman left the room or talking about his own sex life and how he missed getting blow jobs from his wife. He then progressed to talking about patients and myself, stating he was not having as many male sports physicals on the schedule because all the younger boys wanted to schedule with me since I'm hot," Phillips alleges. "He wanted to try to set me up with a patient because as he put it, 'He's good looking and probably has a big dick.' In August of 2021, I was standing at the desk in the office hallway explaining something to my nurse practitioner students. There were also medical students, medical staff and patients around when Dr. Kozlowski tucked his finger into my belt loop, he pulled on my pants and said, 'You lost your ass. What are you going to do now that you're back on the meat market?'."
Dr. Kozlowski did not reply to our requests for comment on these allegations.
Phillips says she first reported the sexual harassment to management on Sept. 27, 2021.
The next day, she and Dr. Denham met with the three owners of Capital Internal Medicine Associates as well as the CEO and clinical director.
"The responses we got were so disappointing. Dr. [Michael] Kowalczyk wouldn't even look at me while saying, 'Well, Dr. Kozlowski has been in practice a long time, so we'll have to hear his side of this,'" Phillips recounted. "Dr. [Amit] Ghose asked what we wanted them to do about it and threatened to close our clinic."
Phillips says the next month she and Dr. Denham were told Dr. Kozlowski would be forced to retire in 90 days, but two months later she says she was told Dr. Kozlowski would attend mandatory training instead.
She says the harassment continued.
"I was later told that if I felt uncomfortable at Kozmic Family Practice, then I could change my practice to a different location since Dr. Kozlowski was staying there," Phillips said.
In January, after Phillips and Dr. Denham hired an attorney, Capital Internal Medicine Associates announced Dr. Kozlowski would be retiring, and they wished him well.
Phillips said Dr. Kozlowski then continued to work by going to patient's homes and doing televisits until April.
Capital Internal Medicine Associates officials declined an interview, but did issue the following statement:
"At Capital Internal Medicine Associates (CIMA), our primary focus is keeping our staff and patients safe and ensuring that our practice is a place of health and healing. We are confident that CIMA management took the necessary and appropriate steps to create and maintain a safe and compliant workplace. We look forward to defending ourselves in the appropriate venue against these accusations. Going forward, we’ll continue to ensure access to quality healthcare for the thousands of patients our professionals see annually around Lansing."
The attorney representing Phillips and Dr. Denham believes their lawsuit will be filed sometime in October, once the investigation into these claims is completed.
"I'm still working at Kozmic Family Practice because I truly care for my patients and my community," Phillips said. "I'm scared to come into work because I don't know what's going to happen, but regardless of what happens, I know that my employer does not support me."
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
