Judge rules radiology resident’s firing wasn’t racially motivated, reversing jury’s $2.75M decision
A Florida judge recently reversed a jury’s decision to award a radiology resident more than $2 million after it determined his firing was racially motivated.
On May 21, a jury ruled that AdventHealth’s radiology residency program terminated Baiywo Rop, MD, for racial reasons, entitling him to $2.75 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel. But Circuit Judge Kevin Weiss on Friday changed that ruling, saying Rop didn’t put forth reasonable evidence that his race played a role in his firing. In fact, Weiss said AdventHealth provided legitimate and non-discriminatory reasons for terminating Rop.
The original complaint dates back to 2013 when Rop became the first African American accepted into the health system’s residency program. But while on medical leave in 2014 for a soon-to-be-diagnosed autoimmune disease, Rop says faculty members told him to “stop being lazy and smoking marijuana,” among other alleged comments, the news outlet reported.
The Florida hospital said it would work to keep him in the program, but he was fired before that could happen.
“We believe that the court overstepped its bounds,” Rop’s attorney Jerry Girley, said in a statement obtained by the Sentinel. “My client is ready to continue his fight for justice and ask the community to join with him in his pursuit of justice.”
AdventHealth has denied Rop’s allegations.
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Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.