Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and one of its physicians are being sued by a former colorectal surgeon who claims she was discriminated against based on her sex and country of origin, according to an Aug. 14 report from bangordailynews.com.
Maria Michailidou, MD, the former surgeon, directed most of her claims toward Brad Waddell, MD, chief of surgery at Northern Light EMMC, who allegedly "repeatedly demeaned, yelled at and blamed" Dr. Michailidou for unwarranted reasons. Additionally, Dr. Michailidou claims the hospital fostered an environment that instilled fear in junior physicians, specifically women and foreign-born physicians, according to the report.
Dr. Michailidou, who began working at Northern Light in August 2018, was born in Greece, where she finished medical school before completing residency programs and clinical research in the U.S. She alleges the Bangor-based hospital takes advantage of foreign-born medical professionals' dependency on the agency to remain in the country, resulting in being overworked and underpaid.
According to the lawsuit, Dr. Waddell drove a focused evaluation of Dr. Michailidou that resulted in a forced resignation, and Dr. Michailidou claims she never received an explanation for the decision. The review process was allegedly not well documented, and a third-party medical reviewer and the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine claimed Dr. Michailidou's actions "fully complied with the applicable standard of care," according to the report.