A former physician was awarded $100,000 after settling a lawsuit with Columbus-based The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center that claimed the physician was a victim of age discrimination and harassment, according to The Lantern.
Nathan Hall, MD, served as division chief of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging at OSU's department of radiology within the college of medicine from 2006 to 2014.
In a complaint filed January 2015, Dr. Hall alleges he experienced rampant criticism and was made to complete arbitrary and unattainable productivity demands by Richard White, MD, who was hired as the chair of the radiology department in 2010.
Dr. Hall said he first began experiencing blatant age discrimination and harassment in 2013 when Dr. White asked all tenured faculty to voluntarily leave the tenure track to pursue other opportunities in the clinical track.
After filing a complaint with the school in 2013, Dr. Hall alleges Dr. White's hostility toward him increased. He was let go from his position as division chief in April 2014. The individual who replaced him, Dr. Hall claims, was a "substantially younger individual…in her early 30s [whom he felt] did not possess the experience and expertise," according to the article.
The parties agreed to a settlement on Sept. 7. As part of the agreement, the medical center will pay Dr. Hall $100,000. Dr. Hall agreed not to pursue any further action against the university.
The settlement and payment by the medical center does not indicate that OSU admits liability in the incident, according to the article.