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Black, Gay 'Doctor' Loses Defamation Claim Against Los Angeles County
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Black Lying Maggots
Dec 13, 2023, 3:10:03 AM12/13/23
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A judge Tuesday dismissed a defamation claim filed against Los
Angeles County that was part of a lawsuit filed by a Black, gay
orthopedic surgeon who maintains she was a victim of racial and
disability discrimination.
Dr. Melani Cargle’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges
retaliation, failure to engage in the interactive process and
defamation. Cargle additionally names UCLA Health as a defendant and
she alleges a supervisor at one of its facilities carried a gun on
duty.
According to the complaint, the county sent out an internal email as
well as a public posting personally attacking her and saying that
her allegations against her UCLA supervisor and the county were
“entirely false and that she was lying,” causing severe damage to
her reputation.
But on Tuesday, Judge Randolph M. Hammock granted the county’s
anti-SLAPP motion and dismissed Cargle’s defamation claim on free-
speech grounds. The state’s anti-SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuit Against
Public Participation — law is intended to prevent people from using
courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who
are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Cargle’s statements went beyond general issues of patient care and
included an allegation a patient was sexually assaulted in an
operating room, so the county responded with factual information
that disputed her contentions, the county’s lawyers stated in their
court papers.
The judge also ruled the county can seek attorneys’ fees. In their
court papers, attorneys for the county maintained that the email was
privileged and that the county did not make any false statements
about Cargle.
Cargle, now 37,received her medical training at UCLA’s David Geffen
School of Medicine from August 2015 and June 2020. Cargle was
diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the fall
of 2015 during her first year of medical school by a UCLA
psychiatrist.
In July 2019, Cargle began her orthopedic surgery rotation at
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where her supervisor for
learning purposes carried a firearm, sometimes concealed and other
times in a fanny pack, the suit states. When Cargle once asked the
supervisor in the operating room what was in his fanny pack, he
laughed, the suit filed June 1 states.
When Cargle scrubbed into surgery with her boss and his team, she
and the others were “recipients of extremely inappropriate sexist
and sexual comments” from the supervisor, who also made a gay slur,
the suit states. Cargle additionally was “aware” that the supervisor
used the “N-word” when referring to some patients, residents and
students, the suit states.
Cargle complained to hospital management about her supervisor, but
the issues remained unresolved despite reassurances to her that
something would be done, the suit states.
The part of Cargle’s case against the county stems from her 2020
enrollment in USC/Keck’s orthopedic surgery residency program, where
the chief resident in the hand surgery program called her “stupid,”
“useless” and an “idiot,” the suit states.
“You need to … get yourself together and find a better system,” the
chief resident told Cargle, according to her suit.
During a meeting with supervisors in which she explained that she
used a charting system that was best for her in light of her
disability, the bosses refused to accept her accommodation request
and demanded that she chart in the way that they preferred,
according to the suit.
When her program’s leadership allegedly failed to support or
accommodate her, Cargle turned to social media outlets such as
Twitter to vent about her negative experiences, the suit states.
Cargle also did an orthopedic trauma rotation at Los Angeles General
Hospital beginning in December 2020, the suit states.
In May 2022, Cargle received a letter from the county’s Department
of Human Resources notifying her that her period of time to mediate
her claims against her UCLA supervisor had closed, according to the
suit. The communication came a week prior to her receiving a notice
of intent to terminate from her program at the time, the suit
states.
https://mynewsla.com/crime/2023/12/12/black-gay-doctor-loses-
defamation-claim-against-los-angeles-county/
Angeles County that was part of a lawsuit filed by a Black, gay
orthopedic surgeon who maintains she was a victim of racial and
disability discrimination.
Dr. Melani Cargle’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges
retaliation, failure to engage in the interactive process and
defamation. Cargle additionally names UCLA Health as a defendant and
she alleges a supervisor at one of its facilities carried a gun on
duty.
According to the complaint, the county sent out an internal email as
well as a public posting personally attacking her and saying that
her allegations against her UCLA supervisor and the county were
“entirely false and that she was lying,” causing severe damage to
her reputation.
But on Tuesday, Judge Randolph M. Hammock granted the county’s
anti-SLAPP motion and dismissed Cargle’s defamation claim on free-
speech grounds. The state’s anti-SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuit Against
Public Participation — law is intended to prevent people from using
courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who
are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Cargle’s statements went beyond general issues of patient care and
included an allegation a patient was sexually assaulted in an
operating room, so the county responded with factual information
that disputed her contentions, the county’s lawyers stated in their
court papers.
The judge also ruled the county can seek attorneys’ fees. In their
court papers, attorneys for the county maintained that the email was
privileged and that the county did not make any false statements
about Cargle.
Cargle, now 37,received her medical training at UCLA’s David Geffen
School of Medicine from August 2015 and June 2020. Cargle was
diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the fall
of 2015 during her first year of medical school by a UCLA
psychiatrist.
In July 2019, Cargle began her orthopedic surgery rotation at
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where her supervisor for
learning purposes carried a firearm, sometimes concealed and other
times in a fanny pack, the suit states. When Cargle once asked the
supervisor in the operating room what was in his fanny pack, he
laughed, the suit filed June 1 states.
When Cargle scrubbed into surgery with her boss and his team, she
and the others were “recipients of extremely inappropriate sexist
and sexual comments” from the supervisor, who also made a gay slur,
the suit states. Cargle additionally was “aware” that the supervisor
used the “N-word” when referring to some patients, residents and
students, the suit states.
Cargle complained to hospital management about her supervisor, but
the issues remained unresolved despite reassurances to her that
something would be done, the suit states.
The part of Cargle’s case against the county stems from her 2020
enrollment in USC/Keck’s orthopedic surgery residency program, where
the chief resident in the hand surgery program called her “stupid,”
“useless” and an “idiot,” the suit states.
“You need to … get yourself together and find a better system,” the
chief resident told Cargle, according to her suit.
During a meeting with supervisors in which she explained that she
used a charting system that was best for her in light of her
disability, the bosses refused to accept her accommodation request
and demanded that she chart in the way that they preferred,
according to the suit.
When her program’s leadership allegedly failed to support or
accommodate her, Cargle turned to social media outlets such as
Twitter to vent about her negative experiences, the suit states.
Cargle also did an orthopedic trauma rotation at Los Angeles General
Hospital beginning in December 2020, the suit states.
In May 2022, Cargle received a letter from the county’s Department
of Human Resources notifying her that her period of time to mediate
her claims against her UCLA supervisor had closed, according to the
suit. The communication came a week prior to her receiving a notice
of intent to terminate from her program at the time, the suit
states.
https://mynewsla.com/crime/2023/12/12/black-gay-doctor-loses-
defamation-claim-against-los-angeles-county/
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