REI, Dr. Misty Blanchette Porter, won more than $1 million from a jury earlier this year.
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BY RON SHINKMAN
For more than 20 years, Misty Blanchette Porter, M.D., worked as a fertility provider for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, one of the largest healthcare providers in New England.
In May 2017, the hospital announced it was closing down its reproductive endocrinology and infertility division at the end of that month – and that Blanchette Porter’s employment and her annual salary of more than $305,000 was coming to an end.
In October of that year she sued the hospital, affiliates and its parent system in federal court in Vermont (Misty Blanchette Porter v. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, District Court of Vermont Case 5:17-cv-00194-gwc, 10/11/17), claiming she was discriminated against because of a disability, a cerebrospinal issue she suffered in 2015.
According to the lawsuit, Blanchette Porter was able to return to work after taking two leaves of absence, but was working on a part-time basis when she was let go. She has since become IVF/ART medical director with the University of Vermont Health Network medical group.
It took nearly eight years for the lawsuit to go to trial. But Blanchette Porter won a narrow legal victory last April when a jury concluded Dartmouth-Hitchcock violated a Vermont state anti-discrimination law in that her disability was a “motivating factor” in her firing (Blanchette Porter, 4/24/25). It awarded her $1 million in economic damages and $125,000 for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages.
But Dartmouth-Hitchcock – which triumphed in four of the five claims in Blanchette Porter’s lawsuit – then asked the judge to throw out the jury’s single verdict against it. In a motion filed in May, it asserts that the judge’s jury instructions told them to apply different levels of causation for the application of the state disability law versus similar federal laws.
It has also filed a motion (Blanchette Porter, 5/27/2025) with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit the jury’s verdict. It’s the second time the appeals court has stepped into the case, according to court records. In 2020, it revived Blanchette Porter’s lawsuit after Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s motion for summary judgment – a conclusion there was nothing legally to contest – was granted by the lower trial court.
A hearing on Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s appeal has yet be scheduled, court records show. The trial judge has also yet to rule on its motions.
A Dartmouth-Hitchcock spokesperson declined comment, stating they do not discuss pending litigation. When the jury verdict was announced last spring, Dartmouth-Hitchcock spokesperson Audra Burns praised the decision, stating that “we are gratified that the jury agreed with Dartmouth Health. They found no retaliation, no wrongful discharge, no disability discrimination under New Hampshire law, and no violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, they found no whistleblower liability, and rejected the plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages.”
Blanchette Porters’ attorneys did not respond to a request seeking comment.
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