LONG BEACH : $1.1-Million Racial Bias Verdict Set Aside by Judge
A Superior Court judge, citing conflicting evidence, has set aside a $1.1-million verdict and ordered a new trial in the case of an African-American doctor who sued Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for racial discrimination.
Judge Valerie L. Baker scheduled the trial for Nov. 10.
Dr. Patrick Chavis, a 40-year-old Compton obstetrician and gynecologist, is considering appealing the decision rather than going forward with a new trial, his lawyer, Henry R. Fenton, said.
Hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson said the ruling supported the hospital’s contention that there was no discrimination.
Chavis filed a lawsuit in 1988 against the center’s board of directors and its Women’s Hospital charging that he was treated unfairly.
Chavis completed his residency at USC in 1981 and applied for an associate staff position at the hospital. The hospital hired him at a lower level and promoted him after he complained. Fenton said supervisors often harassed Chavis.
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