Updated: Sept 26, 2024 at 4:50 p.m.
A former medical student is suing the University, alleging officials forced her to withdraw from the School of Medicine & Health Sciences after determining she was unable to complete clinical clerkships, despite her therapist and psychiatrist confirming she was psychologically fit.
In the lawsuit filed in the D.C. Superior Court on Friday, Tara McCloskey — a medical student from 2018 and Master of Public Health dual degree candidate from 2020 until officials asked her to leave in spring 2023 — argued GW administrators violated federal and local discrimination laws by failing to provide her with physical disability accommodations, suspending her, subjecting her to an unlawful medical examination and discharging her from the medical school for reasons related to her disability. The lawsuit states that GW officials knew about her disability because she received treatment from the Medical Faculty Associates, which is composed of SMHS physicians who also served as her clerkship educators, but GW didn’t provide her the accommodations she requested for her physical conditions and later hired a psychiatrist in spring 2023 who declared her unfit for medical school.
A University spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
McCloskey is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder, depressive symptomatology, post-traumatic stress disorder, paraneoplastic syndrome, hematologic neoplasm and multiple physical ailments related to a pelvic mass and subsequent reconstructive surgeries, according to the lawsuit. She has also been diagnosed with a myelodysplastic disorder, VGKC-antibody syndrome and a paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome, which occurs when cancer-fighting antibodies or white blood cells attack normal nervous system cells, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that the impairments “substantially limit” McCloskey’s neurologic functioning and her ability to concentrate, work and think. McCloskey only sought accommodations from the University for her physical conditions, according to the lawsuit.
McCloskey, who is represented by D.C.-based firm Alan Lescht and Associates, is seeking reinstatement into SMHS or for GW to facilitate her transfer to another Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited medical school. She’s also seeking expungement of any negative information on her student and academic records and at least $1 million in both compensatory and punitive damages. She is requesting a trial by jury for her allegations against GW.
McCloskey’s lawyer declined to comment on the lawsuit.
McCloskey alleged that GW didn’t grant her a medical leave of absence after she and her neurologist requested the time off in December 2021 so she could receive in-patient care in Baltimore for a neurological condition. The lawsuit states that GW instead suspended her for “professionalism concerns” and disallowed her from returning until she passed a fitness-for-duty evaluation by a mental health professional that GW hired.
McCloskey took a leave of absence in 2020, the lawsuit states, due to an apparent immunodeficiency that made her unable to attend her clerkship rotations.
“Throughout 2021, SMHS administrators ignored or denied Ms. McCloskey’s repeated requests for another medical leave-of-absence and openly mocked her when she asked for mental health resources,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that GW selected forensic psychiatrist Ryan Shugarman to perform the evaluation and that during Shugarman’s evaluation, McCloskey’s own therapist and psychiatrist found her fit to return to the medical school and sent Shugarman letters affirming her fitness. On March 30, 2023, Shugarman issued a report recommending that officials not permit McCloskey to return to medical school, according to the lawsuit. Shugarman declined to comment on the lawsuit’s allegation.
“In the report, Dr. Shugarman misconstrued Ms. McCloskey’s mental and physical health history and based his recommendation on issues unrelated to her fitness-for-duty,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states GW officials “unilaterally” accepted Shugarman’s findings and gave McCloskey the option to either withdraw from the University or face dismissal from SMHS. McCloskey withdrew from GW in April 2023, hoping to transfer to another institution to finish medical school, but the lawsuit states that GW “refused to cooperate” with her efforts to transfer to another school.
In or around May 2023, the lawsuit states, interim Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Steven Davis issued McCloskey a dean’s letter and an evaluation of her performance in medical school, which omitted any positive feedback she received and has prevented her from being accepted to another medical school. Davis did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit states that GW violated McCloskey’s rights protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977 and two federal laws — the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Another former medical student filed a lawsuit in January, alleging SMHS violated the ADA and Rehabilitation Act for dismissing her from the University for disability-related symptoms after ignoring her complaints of discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit has since been sealed.
McCloskey now awaits her request for a trial by jury.
This post has been updated to clarify the following:
This post has been updated to clarify that McCloskey only sought accommodations for her physical conditions. This post has also been updated to include additional context from the filing.
