A University of Pittsburgh cardiologist has filed a new civil complaint in federal court alleging retaliation and discrimination against him over affirmative action views expressed in a paper published and later retracted by the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Norman C. Wang is on the faculty of Pitt’s School of Medicine , and a doctor employed by University of Pittsburgh Physicians (“UPP”). He is suing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Named as defendants in the complaint filed Tuesday are Pitt, UPMC, and University of Pittsburgh Physicians.

Wang is an American citizen by birth who is ethnically Chinese. He authored an article titled “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: Evolution of Race and Ethnicity Considerations for the Cardiology in the United States of America from 1969 to 2019.”

It was published in March 2020 by the Journal of the American Heart Association.

This week’s suit and an earlier one in 2020 were filed on behalf of Wang by The Center for Individual Rights in Washington D.C.

The initial suit is in discovery, with some allegations having been dismissed and Pitt removed from the case even as claims against three of its officials were allowed to proceed.

This latest suit is being filed under federal Title VII and “reflects additional information that shows other Pitt officials were involved in the decision to retaliate against Dr. Wang,” Terry Pell, the center’s president, told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday.

He said the hope is both cases will be consolidated, bringing Pitt back into litigation that the center said flows from Wang’s decision to “question the legality of using different admissions standards based on race” in general, including at Pitt.

Jared Stonesifer, a university spokesman, declined comment on the latest suit.

Officials at UPMC offered no immediate response.

According to the suit, the article “asserted that the medical profession had not been successful in reaching its goals of increasing the percentages of underrepresented races and ethnicities in the medical profession generally, and cardiology in particular.”

The article further asserted “that programs to achieve those goals applied different standards to applications by members of underrepresented races and ethnicities and raised questions about the legality, effectiveness, and wisdom of doing so,” according to the lawsuit.

The article said “that the cardiology field was violating the laws against discrimination in the way it used race as a factor in hiring, recruitment, promotion, and admissions,” according to the lawsuit

Four months after publication, according to the complaint, “certain employees and executives at Pitt, UPMC and UPP learned of the assertations” and saw them as “potentially problematic or embarrassing.”

It said Wang met with Samir Saba,chief of the division of cardiology at Pitt’s School of Medicine and co-director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC; and Kathryn Berlacher, associate chief of education in the division of cardiology at the School of Medicine and program director for the cardiology fellowship program at the Heart and Vascular Institute.

“Shortly after Plaintiff told Saba of the illegal nature of the programs at (Pitt’s School of Medicine) and UPMC, Saba, with the agreement and approval of others at the highest levels of management of Defendants Pitt, UPP, and UPMC … removed Plaintiff from his role as the director of the fellowship program in clinical cardiac electrophysiology.”

According to the lawsuit, the defendants discriminated and retaliated against Wang because he expressed the view “that the cardiology field in general, and UPMC and (Pitt’s medical school) in particular, were violating federal law by discriminating on the basis of race and ethnicity in their hiring, recruitment, promotion, and admission practices.”

Wang said he was barred for a time from having any contact with anyone in any fellowship programs at UPMC, residents, or medical students.

Meanwhile, the complaint alleges, a number of employees and agents of Pitt, UPP, and UPMC “began a public attack campaign” against Wang’s article. It cited as examples tweets posted on Pitt social media, including these:

• Pitt Cardiology @PittCardiology

“@PittCardiology stands for diversity equity and inclusion across the board. This article uses misquotes, false interpretations and racist thinking to defend a single person’s conclusion. We are outraged that @JAHA_AHA published this shameful and infuriating piece.”

And:

• katie berlacher @KBerlacher · Aug 2, 2020 @PittCardiology I’m looking at you. What do we stand for? What do you think of this OPINION piece that misinterprets data and misquotes people? @JAHA_AHA this is scientifically invalid and racist.”

The complaint alleges that though the article had been peer reviewed, the Journal subsequently retracted it, without allowing him to respond.

The suit asserts Wang sustained financial, career, reputational and emotional harm. It asks for declaratory judgement, reinstatement to his job and a financial amount to determined, Pell said.

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