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Palo Alto Daily Post

Doctor sues PAMF alleging racial bias and over-radiation of patients

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A doctor has sued the Palo Alto Medical Foundation for allegedly ignoring him when he raised concerns about patients being over-exposed to radiation, and for expecting him to be docile and compliant to conform to Asian male stereotypes.

“Dr. (Harrison) Wang was so affected by this expectation that he remained painfully quiet when a male doctor made inappropriate sexual remarks during a mock breast examination in the presence of female technicians and physicians,” the lawsuit says. “The doctor stated something to the effect of being good at ‘sticking the meat.'”

Palo Alto Medical Foundation and its parent company, Sutter Health, are investigating Wang's allegations and taking them seriously, spokeswoman Callie Lutz said yesterday. 

“Until our investigation is complete, we are not able to comment on this specific issue,” she said. “As a health care system serving diverse people and communities, we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.” However, Wang is the second doctor to sue PAMF and Sutter alleging racial bias. 

Dr. Omondi Nyong'o claimed in June 2021 that he was told by other black doctors to keep his head down because it would attract trouble with the largely white management. 

His supervisors cast him as “an angry black man,” and he was told to take the stairs rather than the elevators because “the white doctors would be ‘uncomfortable' seeing him there,” Nyong'o's lawsuit said.

Nyong'o and PAMF privately settled the lawsuit in September, and Nyong'o left to start a private practice.

Wang still works as a radiologist at PAMF's clinic in Santa Cruz. He also was discriminated against at the medical center at 325 Distel Circle in Los Altos, his lawyer Gina Szeto-Wong said.

Wang said he complained about a lack of masks and Covid testing during the pandemic. PAMF ignored him, and one patient coughed on Wang's head during an exam, he said.

Patients continue to be over-radiated in radiology procedures, “thus greatly increasing their risk of getting cancer,” Wang said.

Wang is asking for the court to order financial damages “in an amount sufficient to punish or make an example of defendants.”

Wang's attorney, Szeto-Wong, said he declined to be interviewed.

 

SFGATE

 

Bay Area tech worker alleges 'shockingly sexist' treatment at Amazon in civil lawsuit

By ,Tech Reporter
Amazon, based in Seattle, operates this corporate office building in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Amazon, based in Seattle, operates this corporate office building in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Lisa Werner/Moment Editorial/Getty Images
A former Amazon engineer faced a spate of sexist comments from a manager at the logistics giant when she applied for another job there, according to a lawsuit she filed in San Francisco on July 5. The complaint accuses Amazon of gender discrimination, marital status discrimination and retaliation and seeks general and compensatory damages.
 

The engineer, Rajakumari Chouta, lives in Fremont and had begun working at Amazon in San Francisco in April 2022. According to the civil complaint, she regularly received strong performance reviews until November. Then, she was told her rating had plummeted, and two days later, she learned she'd be laid off if she couldn't find a different job within Amazon in the next two months, the document says.

Chouta's ensuing internal job search exposed her to “shockingly sexist comments,” the complaint alleges. She began looking for new roles and reached out to a hiring manager named Nagendra Rudravarjhula about an open position, per the lawsuit, which also noted that Chouta and Rudravarjhula were from the same geographic and linguistic background in India.

The suit alleges that when Chouta met with Rudravarjhula to talk about the engineering job, he told her it wasn't for “people who need to ‘take care of the kids, a husband, and have household chores.'” He also allegedly “presumed that women might not be able to perform well in the position as the job involved frequent on-call status,” the complaint says, and told Chouta the job was only for people who could work 12 hours a day.

Chouta didn't get the job, and her two months were ticking by. When she learned that two more roles were open on Rudravarjhula's team, she set up another interview, per the suit. He called her the day after, with positive feedback, the complaint says.But again, the conversation was allegedly tinged with blatant sexism.

Rudravarjhula told Chouta the engineering work would be “tedious and might not be suitable for the female candidates,” the suit says, and allegedly made the “remarkable request” that Chouta get “permission” from her family and husband to take on the job. He also asked her to let him know if she'd be “willing to contribute like male candidates and transfer to Seattle using her own expenses,” the complaint says.

She told him she'd take the position, but once again, she missed out on the job, the complaint says: On Dec. 21, she was told the position was subject to a hiring freeze, and then, on Jan. 3, she learned it had been filled by a man. On Jan. 5, Chouta complained to Amazon about Rudravarjhula's comments, per the suit, and she officially lost her job on Jan. 8, with the two-month period lapsing. She learned that she had been put on a “no re-hire” list, which her old manager said was due to her performance, but Chouta believes this was made up to justify her not getting a transfer, the complaint says.

“The hiring manager was looking for excuses to hire a male candidate, and not a married woman, all along,” the suit alleges.

Neither Rudravarjhula nor Chouta's lawyers responded to SFGATE's questions in time for publication.

Amazon spokesperson Zoë Hoffmann told SFGATE, “We don't tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind in our workplace. Anytime an incident is reported, we investigate it thoroughly and take appropriate action against anyone who is found to have violated our policies.”

Sikh man suing Sutter County after police failed to act on hate crimes

Attorneys Gina Szeto-Wong, principal attorney of Szeto-Wong Law, and Sean Tamura-Sato, managing partner of Minami Tamaki LLP, are representing Claire in the civil case. The first hearing is set for August. Claire's attorneys plan on seeking more information through the legal process about the two women accused in the case, along with the role of the SCSO.

"This civil suit is a first step to remedying that failure, as well as taking legal action against the women who threatened and harassed him, who have faced no consequences whatsoever due to Sutter County's practice of inadequately investigating and prosecuting hate crimes against racial and ethnic minorities," said Szeto-Wong.

Sikh resident in Sutter says police failed to investigate racist harassment

See ABC10 News Clip here:

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