A surgical resident has filed a suit against St. Louis University, alleging that she’s being forced to redo her fourth year of residency due to discrimination.
According to the suit, the resident, Mandy Rice, was repeatedly told during her residency that that her history as a nurse made her unfit to be a surgeon. Rice claims she was told that she was “too nice” and “too much of a nurse” on different occasions in front of colleagues.
The litigation was filed against the university, the director of the SLU surgical residency program and the chief of the trauma service.
Rice also alleges that after being put on probation for failing a training test, she was not given any performance feedback or told what the rules of the probation would be.
Once Rice was informed that she would be held back a year in her residency, she appealed the decision, but lost. Afterward, Rice claims that her supervisor retaliated against her by placing Rice on rotations that are typically assigned to third-year residents.
Rice says she complained to the medical school about these issues but was blown off.
Rice is now hoping to win $25,000 in damages and to cover court costs. She also wants to be advanced to her fifth year of residency training.
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