Stanley Berry, MD, is suing Wayne State School of Medicine in Detroit for allegedly stifling his advocacy for Black patients and passing him over for promotions, according to a May 30 report from the South End.
Dr. Berry has served as interim chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Wayne State since March 2021 and was allegedly denied the permanent position after reporting implicit racial bias against pregnant Black women in the residency program.
Dr. Berry was informed of an incident Jan. 14, 2022, in which a Black patient who was pregnant was sent home in pain from Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit. He then wrote a memo to the department outlining the possibility of implicit bias causing conflict in the case.
Dr. Berry invited the whole department to a meeting Jan. 27, 2022, to have an open discussion on the situation. The meeting was then canceled by the dean but another was held without Dr. Berry's presence, the lawsuit alleges.