Doctor’s age, sex bias claims resuscitated by Dallas appeals court

A famous doctor went up against a famous Dallas hospital and, for now, came out on top. How she did so offers insights into the nuances of employment discrimination law, which is where winning or losing is decided.

The doctor is in

Immunologist Ellen Vitetta is a famous doctor. Not Dr. Fauci famous, but close to it—born in 1942, tenured at UT Southwestern Medical Center (a teaching and research hospital) since 1974, and recipient of numerous awards, honors, and plaudits.

All was as it should be until February 2015, when Dr. Gregory Fitz, who was a manager, told Vitetta she was receiving—for the first time since 1974—a posttenure performance review administered by a Dr. Edward Wakeland. The reviewer met with her and summarized the conversation in a memo to Fitz. Here are some germane parts:

• Vitetta has had “a stellar career spanning close to 45 years as a faculty member.”
• She is a “senior faculty member who is nearing the point of retirement and, presumably, will transfer to the status of Emeritus Professor.”
• “Should [her] single [financially sponsored research grant] end without the acquisition of other sources of external funding, [she] will lose her laboratory space and lab staff.”

At the end at end of the memo, Wakeland stated he “would like to develop a strategy that will facilitate the transition of Dr. Vitetta to Emeritus Professor at an appropriate time.” He added he would continue to strive to find a process that would allow the transition to proceed “gracefully.”