A forensic pathologist is alleging she was forced out of her job at the Boulder County Coroner’s Office after refusing to change the manner of death finding in a case at the insistence of the county coroner.
Dr. Dawn B. Holmes is suing the office, as well as Coroner Emma Hall, for $2.69 million, plus attorney’s fees, for allegedly violating her contract with wrongful termination, according to the plaintiff’s complaint filed Monday in Boulder District Court.
Holmes alleges that Hall stopped scheduling her for autopsies before abruptly terminating her contract early after she had pushed for Holmes to change a manner of death finding in a case from 2017. In the complaint, Holmes goes so far as to call Hall’s conduct “reprehensible” and a violation of her duties as an elected coroner.
The coroner’s office said it has no comment on the lawsuit at this time.
Forensic pathologists typically stay with the same coroner’s office until they retire, according to Rachel Ellis, an attorney and owner of the firm representing Holmes, Livelihood Law, LLC.
“That was precisely the track that Dr. Holmes was on,” Ellis said. “So this is a significant loss of money.”
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