Here are 11 cases of physicians suing their former employers, as reported by Becker's in 2024"
1. Nathan Box, MD, an otolaryngologist, is suing his former employer, Joplin, Mo.-based Freeman Health System, KSN16 reported in May. The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Box was fired after reporting unlawful and negligent conduct to his supervisors. He also cited systemic failures at the hospital in the action.
2. Cardiologist Keesag Baron, MD, is suing St. Louis-based CoxHealth, claiming the system wrongfully reported that he was a threat to the public and terminated his privileges. From 2008 to November 2022, Dr. Baron, who runs Baron Cardiology Group in Springfield, Mo., had admitting staff privileges at CoxHealth. CoxHealth and the clinic allegedly pressured Dr. Baron to send his referrals to them. When he refused to do so, they allegedly removed his privileges due to the death of an 88-year-old former patient as a pretense.
3. A former oncologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA medical center, Lauren Pinter-Brown, MD, was awarded $14 million in a gender discrimination lawsuit. She sued the UC Board of Regents in 2016 for alleged discrimination by male colleagues for receiving an average of $200,000 less annually, among other allegations.
4. John Abraham, MD and orthopedic surgeon, settled a years-long gender discrimination case against Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University, his former employer. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it settled a legal dispute from 2018 in which a resident physician accused him of sexual assault. A Title IX investigation was opened into the incident, which Dr. Abraham claimed was biased.
5. Optometrist Alana Curatola, OD, filed a lawsuit against her former employer, Sequim, Wash.-based Northwest Eye Surgeons for gender discrimination and workplace retaliation. The lawsuit alleges that her employer fired her the day after returning back to work from parental leave.
6. Liam Gannon, MD, former emergency department director of Copley Hospital in Morristown, Vt., is suing the hospital for allegedly firing him in response to safety concerns he raised regarding a switch to a new records system.
7. A physician resident is suing Detroit Medical Center, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, alleging that he was fired in retaliation for notifying his supervisor of the mistreatment of a patient who was placed in a sitting position despite knowing he was a fall risk. The patient later became quadriplegic, the Detroit Metro Times reported March 8.
8. Gynecologist Timothy Hardy, MD, sued Regional Medical Center in Chesapeake, Va., for revoking his hospital privileges, an action he alleges was in retaliation for complaints he made that the facility was putting finances before patient care, The Virginian-Pilot reported Jan. 18. Dr. Hardy is seeking reinstatement of his hospital privileges and an undisclosed amount in damages.
9. Otolaryngologist Yi Kao, MD, is suing his former employer, Mount Nittany Medical Center. Dr. Kao began performing procedures at the State College, Pa.-based health system in 1992, and was employed at Mount Nittany Physician's Group in 2020. The lawsuit alleges that his privileges were wrongfully terminated after a staff member reported Dr. Kao's hands trembled during a surgery and he had complained of vision issues. An evaluation by two ophthalmologists determined he was capable of performing surgical procedures.
10. Urologist Eric Rottenberg, MD, sued his former employer, Scranton-Pa.-based Commonwealth Health Physician Network, for enforcing a noncompete agreement that limited his ability to practice locally. He worked for several local health systems' hospitals between May and November 2023 through a three-year contract with a clause barring him from working within a 20-mile radius, enforced for the following two years.
11. Michael Joyner, MD, filed a free speech lawsuit against his former employer, Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn. The case is set to go before a jury in July 2025. The suit was filed in November 2023, alleging the health system violated Dr. Joyner's protected free speech by suspending him after he publicly criticized the National Institutes of Health.