Female neurosurgeon Sagun Tuli, MD, has been awarded $1.6 million in damages in a sex discrimination lawsuit she filed against Boston-based Brigham & Women’s Hospital and its neurosurgery department chief, Arthur Day, MD, reports the Boston Globe.
A U.S. District Court jury found that Dr. Tuli had been harassed, ridiculed, intimidated and subjected to other abusive behaviors in the workplace because of her gender and nationality (she was born in India). Brigham & Women’s Hospital is responsible for paying $1 million to Dr. Tuli in compensation for the hostile working conditions, as well as $600,000 for retaliating against her when she complained about the abusive treatment. The jury also instructed Dr. Day to pay Dr. Tuli $20,001 for slandering her and purposefully interfering with her business relationship with the hospital.
The jury rejected Dr. Tuli’s additional claims that the hospital had discriminated against her by withholding promotions and paying her less than her male colleagues.
"I just hope the hospital changes and has zero tolerance for these types of comments," said Dr. Tuli after the verdict, referring to alleged comments Dr. Day had made to her, including calling her "just a girl" during a surgery in May 2007. Hospital officials told the Globe they would "review the court proceedings and the jury’s findings in this complicated case before we make any decisions or statements."
—Irene Tsikitas
