Four former employees of Mount Sinai Hospital's Icahn School of Medicine in New York City filed a lawsuit against the school and four additional defendants Oct. 24, alleging sexist behavior by the school's leadership.
The four plaintiffs helped build up the education program at Arnhold Institute for Global Health, a research institute at the school, according to an Oct. 31 news release from the law firm representing them, McAllister Olivarius. A search committee recommended a "highly qualified" female candidate to direct the program, but the school's dean, Dennis Charney, MD, hired a male candidate who was still completing his residency instead.
Dr. Charney and the director he appointed, Prabhjot Singh, MD, allegedly "overwhelmingly" appointed young men to leadership roles, giving them more prestigious titles and better pay than female counterparts, according to the release. Additionally, Dr. Singh "gaslit" female employees so they would leave voluntarily, resulting in 13 departures, the release said.
The lawsuit also alleges Bruno Silva — another Mount Sinai employee and defendant in the case — made vulgar comments about female employees and their appearances, and used derogatory language to reference a Pakistani co-worker. An oversight committee was appointed under Dr. Singh, but it met infrequently and enacted no change, according to the release.
David Berman, MD, Dr. Singh's chief of staff — the fourth defendant in the case alongside Dr. Charney, Dr. Singh and Mr. Silva — would "furiously scream" at women in the workplace, the lawsuit alleges. Mr. Singh ignored this, according to the lawsuit.
Mount Sinai did not return Becker's request for comment.
This is not the first time the plaintiffs have filed against Mount Sinai. In 2019, eight employees filed a complaint alleging sex, age and race discrimination under the leadership of Dr. Charney and Dr. Singh's leadership. On Jan. 20, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allowed the lawsuit to proceed, but it dropped four plaintiffs for various reasons, including statute of limitation laws on discrimination claims.
The four dropped plaintiffs have refiled with the state of New York and are documenting the process online.