Veterinary Emergency Group Lawsuit: Pardo v. ASC Not VEG

The veterinary emergency lawsuit most often searched under this phrase is Pardo v. Tomas Infernuso DVM, P.C., a federal whistleblower and retaliation case filed in January 2024 against the Animal Surgical Center (ASC) of Long Island and its owner. The plaintiff, a veterinary critical care specialist, alleged that unlicensed staff performed medical procedures on animals, that controlled substances were mishandled, and that she was fired after reporting the problems and disclosing her pregnancy. The parties ended the case by stipulation of dismissal on February 6, 2025, on terms that were not made public.¹

Who Sued and Where

Dr. Mariana Pardo, hired in mid-2022 as ASC’s Emergency and Critical Care Medical Director, worked at the facility from approximately September 2022 through May 2023.²³⁴ The defendant, Dr. Tomas Infernuso, owns and operates ASC.

Unlicensed Staff and Dosing Errors

The core allegation was that ASC routinely had unlicensed assistants perform work that New York law reserves for Licensed Eligible Veterinary Technicians. According to the complaint, assistants monitored anesthesia, drew blood, and administered intravenous medications without proper credentials.⁵

The suit tied that practice to serious dosing errors. In January 2023, the complaint alleged, an assistant gave a patient 20 times the recommended dose of fentanyl, causing an overdose that Dr. Pardo said she was able to reverse.⁶ Other incidents described in the complaint included a patient receiving ten times the proper dose of a blood pressure medication because it was given undiluted, and an ICU patient getting double the intended dose from a pump set up by an unlicensed assistant.⁵

The complaint also alleged that ASC failed to keep legally required logs for controlled substances such as fentanyl, and that staff sometimes diluted fentanyl in IV fluids in a way that made accurate dosing impossible for smaller animals.⁵

Other Patient Care Allegations

The complaint described what Dr. Pardo called “egregiously substandard medical care” beyond the drug incidents: lost biopsy samples, incorrect CPR technique, a failure to turn on oxygen equipment, and a case in which a cat with feline immunodeficiency virus was housed alongside healthy cats.⁵ The lawsuit attributed the pattern to insufficient staffing, inadequate training, and weak oversight.

Retaliation and Pregnancy Discrimination

Dr. Pardo said she repeatedly raised these issues with Dr. Infernuso and with ASC’s HR department. In one January 2023 email quoted in the complaint, she wrote: “We HAVE to protect ourselves legally, and we have been using these staff members in illegal ways.”⁵ Instead of addressing the complaints, the lawsuit alleged, Dr. Infernuso became hostile, withdrew promised compensation and benefits, and added work hours.

The retaliation intensified, the complaint alleged, after she disclosed her pregnancy. ASC refused pregnancy accommodations and terminated her employment only weeks after the announcement.⁴ Her attorneys stated publicly that Dr. Infernuso “flouted numerous laws that are in place to ensure that animals receive appropriate medical care and then doubled down by firing Dr. Pardo after she raised complaints about this conduct.”⁶

The Legal Claims

Dr. Pardo brought claims under several statutes:

New York Labor Law § 740, the state’s whistleblower protection statute barring retaliation against workers who report illegal activity.
The New York State Human Rights Law, covering pregnancy discrimination and hostile work environment allegations.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, the federal law protecting employees who need leave for pregnancy or serious health conditions.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which Dr. Pardo indicated she would add following proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.⁵

How the Case Ended

In September 2024, the defendants filed a partial motion to dismiss. Judge Natasha C. Merle denied the motion, finding that Dr. Pardo had adequately alleged protected activity under Title VII, the New York State Human Rights Law, and Labor Law § 740, and had sufficiently pleaded both adverse employment actions and a causal link between her complaints and her firing.²

The case never reached trial. The parties filed a stipulation of dismissal on February 6, 2025, and the terms were not disclosed.¹

This Is Not the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG)

The Animal Surgical Center of Long Island is a separate entity from Veterinary Emergency Group, the nationwide 24-hour emergency chain commonly known as VEG. The Pardo lawsuit is against ASC and Dr. Infernuso, not VEG. A separate and unrelated labor matter involving VEG — an unfair labor practice charge filed against its Denver location in February 2024 — was withdrawn by the filing party and closed in March 2024.⁷

An Earlier Suit Against the Same Facility

The Pardo complaint was not the first employment lawsuit against ASC and Dr. Infernuso. In April 2021, former ASC CEO Cliff Saffron sued in Nassau County Supreme Court, alleging he had been fired for reporting discriminatory treatment of employees and that ASC misrepresented the medical qualifications of people performing surgeries at the facility.⁴ That case, Saffron v. Tomas Infernuso et al. (No. 604661/2021), was discontinued by stipulation in January 2022, on terms that are also not public.⁸

1
CourtListener. Pardo v. Tomas Infernuso DVM, P.C.
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Midpage. Pardo v. Tomas Infernuso DVM, P.C.
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GovInfo. Pardo v. Tomas Infernuso DVM, P.C.
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Wigdor Law. Whistleblower Complaint Against Animal Surgical Center of Long Island
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Wigdor Law. Complaint, Pardo v. ASC et al.
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New York Post. LI Animal Hospital Fired Vet for Barking About Dog OD
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NLRB. Case 27-CA-336327
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Trellis Law. Cliff Saffron v. Tomas Infernuso DVM, P.C.