By Laura Rico
Daily Bruin Contributor
A court of appeals, which reinstated a former medical
intern’s racial discrimination lawsuit against the University
of California and the UCLA School of Medicine on June 6, is
expected to set a trial date for early next month.
Admitted to the UCLA School of Medicine’s intern program
in 1993, David Dixon’s internship was terminated in March
1994, two months before he was to obtain his license to practice
medicine in California.
“The medical school operates like a “˜good old
boys’ network and as the only black in my department, I felt
singled out and overly scrutinized,” said Dixon, who is
asking for $10 million in damages and compensation.
While he said racial discrimination played a role in his
termination, the university cites poor evaluations from his
supervisors as the reason for his removal.
“Although the university is disappointed in the
court’s ruling (to reinstate the case), we believe we have a
strong case,” the UC Office of General Council, which
represents the university, said in a statement Friday.
“The University believes it will prevail after it has had
an opportunity to present its position to the trial court,”
it stated.
Dixon initially appealed his termination to the Department of
Medicine in 1994, claiming racial discrimination.
An ad hoc committee composed of medical school faculty concluded
that it was unlikely he was discriminated, because multiple
complaints of Dixon’s inadequate performance had been
reported by his supervisors.
The campus counsel also reviewed the case and decided the
internship program’s decision was not racially motivated.
Dixon then took his case to the courts, where lawsuits have been
pending since 1998 due to a series of setbacks. The judge
originally presiding over the case in 1998 was disqualified due to
his affiliation with the UCLA School of Law.
Last year, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County issued a
summary judgment in favor of the university and the School of
Medicine. The judgment stated that Dixon failed to prove racial
discrimination was the motive behind his termination.
According to the court, Dixon did not present adequate evidence
of satisfactory job performance. The summary judgment’s
ruling said that 15 out of 24 of Dixon’s evaluations ranged
from poor to unsatisfactory.
But in June, the court of appeals in the second appellate
district reversed the summary judgment. According to Melanie E.
Lomax, Dixon’s attorney, the court found that Dixon had
satisfied the requirements for admission into the program and that
some of the doctors who gave him poor evaluations had not seen him
perform medical tasks.
Lomax said the School of Medicine violated its policy by not
informing Dixon of his poor evaluations prior to his
termination.
“The School of Medicine is required to tell an intern if
there are any deficiencies in their performance, and for six months
Dr. Dixon was given poor evaluations but was not told of this at
any time,” Lomax said.
Representatives for the School of Medicine could not be reached
for comment.
Lomax said few African Americans participate in the Medical
Center’s intern program, thus leading to an atmosphere of
racial prejudice.
“Dr. Dixon was only the third African American intern to
be employed at the Family Medicine residency program at UCLA since
1973, and because of this he faced a hostile environment in which
his performance was overly scrutinized,” Lomax said.
Dixon, who is residing in Tucson, Ariz., has not practiced
medicine since his termination. He said he hopes his case will help
increase the number of African Americans in the School of
Medicine.