NYU Fired Doc Who Supported Covid Frontline Hazard Pay: Suit

NEW YORK CITY — An NYU doctor says she was falsely accused of fraud and fired after raising concerns about gender pay gaps and a policy of “blacklisting” pandemic frontline workers who asked for hazard pay, court records show.

Dr. Kristin Carmody, a former vice chair of emergency medicine at NYU, filed a 79-page lawsuit Monday in Manhattan Federal Court accusing the New York University of defamation, discrimination and retaliation, court records show.

“[NYU] retaliated and discriminated against Dr. Carmody because she was a woman who had defended the rights of other women and marginalized groups,” the lawsuit states.

“Dr. Carmody’s efforts and objections displeased Individual Defendants who, in the words of her former female colleagues, responded by placing a ‘target on her back.’”

A spokesperson for NYU Langone Health — the university’s private, nonprofit hospital system — declined to discuss the suit but denied the claims it raised.

“NYU Langone Health has no comment as to the allegations in the complaint,” the spokesperson said. “And obviously will zealously defend against these meritless claims in court.”

Carmody had spent the past three years raising concerns over cases of gender pay caps, including her own, when her job was terminated, the complaint states.

Carmody’ boss allegedly lost his patience in August 2020 when she refused to accept explanations of why a male peer was making substantially more than his female coworkers, the suit contends.

“Billy’s my consigliere,” her boss allegedly said, referencing the position of the crime boss advisor made famous by “The Godfather” movies.

The boss also argued the “consigliere” was doing “financial stuff” with another staff member, who denied this claim and told Carmody the two were “doing nothing” together, according to the suit.

One month later, Carmody challenged the policy of blacklisting frontline workers who advocated for more PPE supplies and hazard pay during the pandemic, the lawsuit contends.

The group of about 500 NYU residents made national headlines in April 2020 when they published a letter asking for stronger safeguards of their health and employment status.

NYU, which reportedly was facing a potential billion-dollar deficit as it provided care to sick New Yorkers, denied their requests in an email that rankled some residents.

I can’t even express how deeply wounding it is to have my compassion, caring and maturity called into question by my leadership. I am trying to save patients’ lives. Patient after patient dies despite our efforts. I deliver the news as family members wail into the phone. 8/
— Colleen Farrell, MD (@colleenmfarrell) April 20, 2020

Carmody did not follow orders to disclose the letter's signees and challenged her superior’s decision not to hire a resident, whom she deemed highly qualified, who had spoken to the press, the lawsuit contends.

When Carmody pressed her boss for an explanation, he said the resident was on the “Dean’s No-Hire List,” according to the suit.

“[Her boss] expressed his heightening impatience with such efforts, the lawsuit states, "by warning Dr. Carmody to stop.”

Carmody was fired three months later, the suit contends.

On Nov. 30, 2020, Carmody treated a “VIP” patient — one whom NYU demands doctors prioritize over “regular” patients — for a urinary tract and kidney infection at NYU Langone Health, according to the suit.

The next day, the VIP’s spouse — and friend of a high-ranking NYU Langone Health official — sent a six-page letter complaining his wife had developed sepsis and demanding a review of Carmody’s treatment, according to the suit.

The lawsuit claims the letter contained “suspicious” inconsistencies, such as the assertion that the VIP was treated for sepsis with Levaquin — medication used to treat kidney infections — and held for observation in a Lenox Hill Hospital ward where sepsis patients typically are not sent, the suit contends.

The case was flagged for a case review and, one week later, Carmody was fired for falsifying her charts, the suit contends.

Carmody was accused of criminal fraud because she’d reported she’d examined a patient herself rather than supervising a resident’s examination, according to the suit.

Carmody contends the charting software did not allow her to mark the distinction and NYU never filed a report with any public authority against her, the suit states.

The complaint also contends the VIP suffered no bad patient outcome.

Several physicians rallied in Carmody's defence, questioning the reason for her dismissal and reporting to NYU officials they've marked their charts in a similar fashion, according to the complaint.

One physician argued Carmody’s termination had been a warning to others, the lawsuit states.

“If the person who’s most respected in our department is taken down in front of everybody,” the doctor allegedly said, “the clear message is anybody can be taken down.”