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Pioneer Heart Surgeon Settles Suit
Listen to this articleA pioneer heart surgeon who sued the University of Washington for sex discrimination has accepted a $750,000 settlement and resigned from the transplant program she founded.As part of the settlement, Dr. Margaret Allen, 51, is also barred from leading research tied to the Seattle medical school or its staff.“For the sum we’re paying, we’re buying a complete divorce. We’re not having any shared custody,” university attorney Michael Madden said.Allen, one of the first female heart transplant surgeons, had been at the university 15 years and called the settlement, reached a week ago through binding arbitration, “incredibly discouraging.”She had complained that a supervisor, Dr. Edward Verrier, chief of cardiac surgery, harangued her about her performance and removed her as heart transplant director without explanation in 1996.She also conteneded the surgery department’s acting director, Dr. David Ashbaugh, told her she would never be promoted to full professor because the department was like an “old boys’ club.” Ashbaugh denies saying that and said he did all he could to help Allen get promoted.Madden wrote in mediation documents that Allen alienated anesthesiologists and others in the operating room, was too slow and often changed direction and surgical schedules at the last minute, forcing the staff to wait hours for her to begin surgery.In a brief statement, Verrier wished Allen well in her future research.Allen is a past president of the United Network for Organ Sharing, which is responsible for nationwide organ distribution.
