Amanda Harrell, DO, former chief medical officer of Joplin, Mo.-based Freeman Health System, sued the system Oct. 13 in Jasper County (Mo.) Circuit Court, alleging she was fired on the basis of her sex and in retaliation for raising compliance concerns.
The petition brings claims under the Missouri Human Rights Act and the Missouri Whistleblower Protection Act. Dr. Harrell, 41, is an internist who joined Freeman in July 2016 and became CMO in December 2024.
According to the complaint, Dr. Harrell reported concerns in spring and summer 2025 about contract mismanagement, gender-based pay inequity, radiology staffing, credentialing and ACGME compliance. She took those concerns to senior executives and to the legal, risk and compliance departments.
The lawsuit alleges that on July 16, 2025, CEO Matthew Fry told Dr. Harrell she was “not the CMO he needed” and criticized her for “learning on the job.” Mr. Fry had joined Freeman in April 2025. The petition says he then offered her an undefined part-time leadership role. When she asked for the role’s terms, he demanded an answer within about 30 minutes. Freeman fired her July 23, 2025.
The complaint says Freeman then named a male physician with no prior CMO experience to the role. The complaint also says at least two other women in leadership were fired around the same time.
Dr. Harrell filed a charge with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on Jan. 16, 2026, and received a right-to-sue notice July 16, 2026. She seeks more than $25,000 on each of three counts, reinstatement and a jury trial.
Before becoming CMO, Dr. Harrell was Freeman’s medical director of population health and chair of its division of medicine.
Becker’s has reached out to Freeman and Dr. Harrell’s legal counsel and will update this article if more information becomes available.
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