Profession
Female faculty sue Penn State medical school for gender bias
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 4, 2007
Eight women -- including two physicians -- filed a gender discrimination suit against the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in April.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, alleges that the medical school paid female faculty less than their male counterparts.
Clifford E. Haines, the attorney for the physicians and six basic science professors who filed the suit, said "there has been a university-wide concern among females about pay disparities. ... These women feel they've been denied income they are entitled to."
Sean Young, a spokesman for Penn State College of Medicine, said in an e-mail that the university would not comment while the lawsuit was in litigation. However, he said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reviewed the case and found no probable cause to suggest the law had been violated.
The women are asking for back pay and an end of discriminatory salary disparities, as well as an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/06/04/prbf0604.htm.