Discrimination Lawsuit Against Top Research Institution Moves Forward

ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A discrimination lawsuit filed by Dr. Vivian Cheung, a nationally renowned physician-scientist, against the Howard Hughes Medical Institute -- one of the world's leading funders of medical research -- moved closer to a jury trial after a Maryland Circuit Court recently denied HHMI's motion for summary judgment.

The trial, scheduled to start December 4, 2023, has massive implications not just for the parties involved, but for millions of other Americans who, like Dr. Cheung, face employer discrimination due to their disability status.

"Dr. Cheung is universally recognized as a pioneering biologist," said Gary Gilbert, president of Gilbert Employment Law, who represents Dr. Cheung. "She's been credited with numerous breakthrough discoveries -- which is why HHMI selected her in 2008 to be one of just a few hundred HHMI investigators in the entire country, a distinction that comes with roughly $1 million in annual funding, and renewed her contract in 2013."

"Despite her continued exceptional productivity, HHMI declined to renew Dr. Cheung's contract in 2018 after she was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that causes vision loss," Gilbert continued. "We're confident that a jury will conclude that HHMI terminated a talented researcher's contract not because of performance issues, but because it didn't want to make reasonable accommodations for her disability."

The case is significant, both because it calls into question the sincerity of HHMI's professed commitment to boosting diversity, and because it's emblematic of an industry-wide problem of scientific institutions shutting out researchers with disabilities.

"My disability has made me a better and more passionate physician-scientist," said Dr. Cheung. "I owe it to myself -- and my fellow researchers -- to speak up and hold institutions like HHMI accountable for blatant discrimination."

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Ara Hernandez
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SOURCE Dr. Vivian Cheung