PORTLAND — A former medical resident at Oregon Health & Science University who sued the school in 2018 alleging retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination now accuses the school of breaching their settlement agreement.
After mediation, OHSU was to pay $100,000 to the resident, identified only as ” I.J.,” and she agreed to resign from her residency job as of Oct. 31, 2018, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Her new lawsuit alleges the school shared disparaging information about her with prospective employers, commented on the existence of the agreement in violation of the settlement and failed to provide a required reference letter for her.
The lawsuit, filed Saturday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeks $20 million in damages, including $15 million in economic damages.
It comes as former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is leading an investigation into OHSU’s handling of sexual misconduct and discrimination complaints in the wake of a high-profile harassment lawsuit filed earlier this year against the school and a former anesthesiology resident.
The latest lawsuit by I.J. follows her unsuccessful effort to set aside the court’s dismissal of the earlier suit based on the negotiated settlement.
I.J. initially sued the school alleging she faced increasing demands and a remediation program while a resident after she complained about sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct while on a clinical rotation in the medical intensive care unit between fall 2015 and 2017.
In one case, she said an assistant professor required her and another woman resident to watch a sexually suggestive video in a workroom and “danced in a sexually suggestive manner while grabbing his crotch” and prevented their exit, according to her suit.
She says the residency program after she complained “set higher workload demands and intensified requirements” for her than that of her peers and moved to end her residency.
OHSU President Dr. Danny Jacobs on Monday issued a statement in response to I.J.’s latest complaint, saying, “OHSU remains committed to ensuring the safety of our members and our patients.”
According to her suit, I.J. has failed to obtain a new residency despite her applications to at least 20 internal medicine programs, including residency positions in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy.
