Judge declines to toss radiologist’s lawsuit alleging age discrimination led to her firing
A judge has declined to toss a radiologist’s long-running lawsuit claiming her 2018 termination was because of age discrimination.
The case dates to July 2019, when Claire Hanley, MD, first filed suit against New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. She claimed the country’s largest municipal health system “used false charges about her performance to terminate her appointment and privileges.” NYCHH also allegedly replaced Hanley, who is in her 70s, with “a less qualified and experienced radiologist who was approximately 30 years younger,” according to the original complaint.
U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block ruled March 22 that a jury will need to decide the case, rejecting the hospital’s request for summary judgment. However, he also dismissed similar claims brought by Hanley against affiliated university SUNY Downstate, Bloomberg Law reported Monday.
“Simply, there is sufficient evidence in the record for a reasonable jury to conclude that plaintiff’s termination at [Kings County Hospital Center] was caused by age discrimination,” Block wrote, while also dismissing Brooklyn-based KCHC as a defendant.
You can read more about the case from Bloomberg here (subscription required):
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.