He says the people meant to protect him steered him away from filing
A 23-year Kaiser Permanente IT veteran says his own HR department helped push him out the door.
Gyan Saxena gave Kaiser Permanente more than two decades. He started as a contractor in 1997, became a full-time IT consultant in 2006, and, according to a complaint filed June 17, 2026 in federal court in Colorado, collected strong reviews and annual bonuses the whole way. He even worked as a key architect on an electronic medical record project the filing values at roughly one billion dollars.
Then a new manager arrived, and his story took a sharp turn.
The complaint says that after a new team manager took over in late 2020 and early 2021, Saxena - described as the only person of color on his team - was subjected to a racially "hostile work environment." It alleges the manager, helped by two colleagues, made "false accusations about his performance" and tried to force him to resign.
For HR leaders, the part worth slowing down on is what allegedly happened next. Saxena says he raised concerns in August 2021, then filed a formal complaint against the manager with Kaiser HR in January 2022. Rather than shield him, the filing says, Kaiser kept him reporting to the very manager he had complained about.
It gets more pointed. Saxena alleges the HR consultant assigned to help him "proofread and rewrote significant portions of his complaint," and that, on information and belief, she advised him "not to consult an outside attorney and not to file an EEOC complaint." He also claims Kaiser ran what the complaint calls a "sham" internal inquiry and never handed over the findings. When he asked for the report in January 2025, the filing says, Kaiser told him it could not be found.
The timing is central to his case. The complaint says a "false" and "pretextual" performance improvement plan landed after his protected complaints, wiping out his bonus and merit raise for the first time in his career. It also says a white colleague was promoted into a job Saxena wanted just six days after a complaint meeting - a role, he alleges, that was never posted.
The pressure took a toll, according to the filing. Saxena says he was diagnosed with conditions including Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD, went on medical leave in February 2022, and moved to long-term disability. Kaiser fired him effective March 16, 2023, the complaint says, pointing to his long-term disability status, with no severance and no notice.
The disability fight didn't end there. The filing alleges Kaiser repeatedly cancelled or disrupted his health coverage while he stayed on long-term disability - in September 2024, December 2024, and again in March 2026 - despite a November 2024 letter confirming benefits through August 2027. The complaint also references two race discrimination class-action lawsuits Kaiser is alleged to have settled in April 2021 for a total of $18.9 million, and says Saxena was excluded from a resulting salary review.
Saxena is suing under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 for race discrimination and retaliation, and under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disability discrimination and retaliation. He wants lost wages and benefits, reinstatement or front pay, and compensatory and punitive damages.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Kaiser has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled.
