Doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center were boozing it up on duty, a whistleblowing physician claims in a blockbuster lawsuit.
A resident in the Manhattan hospital’s pathology department invited colleagues to what he called “dementia rounds,” to drink “hard alcohol and beer during working hours on hospital premises,” according to the suit in Manhattan federal court.
Dr. Leena Varughese, 31, says she alerted her supervisors to the e-mailed invitations from Dr. Samuel McCash, 33, who allegedly “admitted to taking a ‘break’ from [examining] specimens to drink alcohol,” according to court papers.
The suit claims a second pathology resident, Dr. Adrienne Jordan, 28, drank on the job but was promoted anyway.
A “bottle of Captain Morgan’s rum that Dr. Jordan brought to work and was drinking on the job was discovered,” according to Varughese’s Dec. 4 court complaint. “Rather than suffer disciplinary action, Dr. Jordan was promoted to chief-resident status.”
Varughese says in court documents that her complaints to hospital supervisors about McCash and Jordan got her fired.
It’s unclear if Varughese, who participated in the hospital’s pathology residency program, informed state authorities about the drinking allegations. Records show neither McCash nor Jordan have been cited or disciplined by the state Department of Health.
But supervisors instead allegedly threatened to fire Varughese if she confronted anyone about the discrimination, she claims in her suit.
Varughese claims she was fired in September 2011 on trumped-up charges that she was “a risk” to the hospital and her patients, according to court papers. She is seeking $1 million in damages.
McCash did not respond to messages seeking comment. Jordan could not be reached for comment.
A Mount Sinai spokesman said that the hospital will “vigorously defend” itself against Varughese’s allegations.