Harvard Surgeon Claims Gender Bias at Prestigious Hospital

A Harvard neurosurgeon has accused the chief of neurosurgery at a prestigious Harvard-affiliated hospital of discriminating against her because she is a woman, the Boston Globe reports.

Sagun Tuli, an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, filed a complaint in federal court this month alleging that Arthur Day, chief of neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has made derogatory comments and retaliated against her complaints by paying her less than her male colleagues and not giving her sufficient time to conduct research.

Tuli claims that Day once said to her while she was operating, “You are just a girl. Are you sure you can do that?” And, she alleges, at a hospital dinner he asked her if she would “get up on the table and dance for us to show the female residents how to behave?”

In a statement, Day told the Globe he was “deeply saddened to hear these falsehoods” and said the claims are an attempt to damage his reputation. Day said he could not elaborate because the suit is pending.

Tuli has also complained to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Two other complaints of gender bias in the Brigham’s neurosurgery department are also pending with the commission, the Boston Herald reports.

“I strongly believe that I honor the tenets of respecting all of my colleagues and trainees, and that I do my best to support and promote each of them in their professional development and attainment of their personal goals,” Day said in a statement to the Herald.