MIAMI – A physician who worked for University of Miami Hospital since the mid-1980s claims he was discriminated against and wrongfully terminated from his position at the medical center due to his age, in a federal lawsuit.
Plaintiff Dr. Robert Brian Stang filed his suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.
In his 17-page complaint, he claims defendant University of Miami, or UM, violated the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act in dismissing him.
Stang, who was 67 at the time, started working for UM in 1986.
Currently, he is employed by the university as an assistant professor, after being terminated from his hospital position.
While employed at the hospital, beginning in 1989, he performed a weekly Thursday ultrasound-reading assignment.
However, in March 2024, he alleges UM removed him from the assignment due to his age.
In his complaint, he points to remarks made by Dr. Yiannis Chatzizisis, UM’s chief of the cardiovascular division, stating the department needed to transition “out with the old and in with the new.”
Stang claims Chatzizisis did not identify any performance-based reason for his removal.
Stang alleges he reported Chatzizisis’s comments to Dr. Joan St. Onge, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professional development, in early June 2024. He also contacted human resources about the alleged age discrimination.
He claims he was later informed by St. Onge that the reason he was terminated from the echo lab assignment was not related to his age, but instead because he could not perform a TEE procedure.
A transesophageal echocardiogram, or TEE, is a diagnostic imaging test that uses sound waves to create clear, detailed moving pictures of a person’s heart structure and valves. It uses an internal probe guided down the esophagus.
Stang argues the echo lab assignment consisted of TTE reading or interpretation, and did not require knowledge or certification in TEE.
A transthoracic echocardiogram, or TTE, is non-invasive, external heart ultrasound.
Even if required, Stang contends he was never given the opportunity to become certified in TEE.
“Any TEE requirement that was imposed in 2024 was imposed to target older doctors, who as a group are less likely to be certified in TEE, in order to ensure that younger doctors were working in the Echo Lab,” his lawsuit states.
According to the filing, he was removed from his echo lab assignment on Sept. 21, 2024. On Oct. 1, 2024, he ceased receiving his full compensation as a result.
Stang also contends Chatzizisis allegedly interfered with his re-credentialing application, and UM prevented the processing of his application and barred him from continuing clinic work at the hospital.
“For approximately thirty-five years, Plaintiff’s recredentialing form had been completed without issue,” he noted in his suit. “But in 2024, Dr. Chatzizisis refused to complete the form.
“Once credentials are lost, they are very difficult to get back.”
Stang argues Chatzizisis’s alleged interference with his credentialing was retaliatory for his age discrimination complaint.
“Before the events at issue, Plaintiff had never been disciplined and had not been advised of performance deficiencies,” his complaint notes.
Stang seeks back pay, front pay or reinstatement, compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and attorney fees.
Morgan & Morgan PA in Plantation, Florida, is representing him in the suit.
