LA County Sued Over Claims of Workplace Abuse at Harbor-UCLA Hospital

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(Photo: by Mario Tama/Getty Images) TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 21: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Registered nurse Alisha Thiebert cares for COVID-19 patients in a makeshift ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021 in Torrance, California.

Last week, three prominent female doctors at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California, filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County, the organization in charge of the huge teaching hospital, claiming that management had disregarded years of complaints about Dr. Louis Kwong's alleged sexual harassment, retaliation, and discriminatory actions. Kwong, who until recently oversaw the facility's orthopedics department, was accused of these actions.

The doctors claimed in their lawsuits that Kwong's actions created a toxic work environment and endangered patients, as reported by NBC News.

They claimed in one lawsuit that he sexually assaulted unconscious patients in the operating room, delayed acute surgery for county residents to perform elective procedures, and once demanded that an operating room television be changed to a baseball game he wanted to watch while the patient's operation was being monitored.

Kwong is a volunteer deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County, which the county acknowledged; they claim he carried a revolver while in the hospital, including in the operating room.

Misogyny at the Hospital

According to the claims, the institution was rife with misogyny. One physician said that she was asked to leave her post to make room for a male applicant who was younger and less qualified.

According to her lawsuit, she was informed that the department needed to give "a talented guy a chance" before she turned into a pumpkin.

The Lawsuits of Three Women Doctors

Doctors are the plaintiffs. Dr. Madonna Fernandez-Frackelton, a former longtime program director of emergency care at the institution, and orthopedic surgeons Haleh Badkoobehi and Jennifer Hsu.

They claim in their cases that hospital managers ignored written and verbal complaints about Kwong for years and that they were demoted or otherwise punished when they raised concerns about his behavior.

The charges against Harbor-UCLA Medical Center come after similar instances at hospitals connected to esteemed institutions where patient complaints about doctors were reportedly ignored for years.

According to their lawsuits, all three doctors explored alternative measures for several years prior to bringing suit, including complaining to superiors and submitting grievances with the county. In one of the lawsuits, they claim that the issues still exist and that they are suing to "help create a safer and more tolerant atmosphere" at the hospital "for future patients, women, and other targeted groups."

Actions Taken Against Kwong

In March 2022, Kwong was placed on administrative leave, and the county retained Sheppard Mullin to conduct an investigation into the claims. The law firm's investigator declined to comment.

According to the website of Transparent California, a public employee pay and pension database, Kwong has collected as much as $1 million in pay and benefits in a year while the inquiry is ongoing and he is on leave. Kwong, a UCLA Medical School alum, has been employed by Harbor-UCLA since 1990, according to his resume. Both a voicemail and an email requesting comment were not answered by him.

The independent agency in charge of accrediting fellowship and residency programs after medical school, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, put Harbor-UCLA on probation in late June.

The change was made in response to a site inspection by the organization in April after Fernandez-Frackelton and all 64 of her emergency department residents complained to the overseer about the unfavorable working conditions in the hospital's orthopedics department, which was formerly run by Kwong.

According to statistics from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kwong has received over $800,000 in payments from pharmaceutical and medical device makers since 2016, which is higher than the mean payments earned by other doctors in the field.

On a study for which he is the principal investigator, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers have also given him associated research funding of $665,000.