Support Dr. Sophia Duong's Legal Fees
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This fundraiser was created in support of Dr. Sophia Duong, to help pay for legal fees in her ongoing lawsuit.
Dr. Duong is a medical resident physician who obtained her MD and Master of Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2020 and 2021, respectively. She had career aspirations to be a cardiologist and medical device innovator.
During her training as an internal medicine physician, she reported an accusation of sexual misconduct against her male clinical and research supervisor, Dr. Benedict Glover, who was a prominent cardiologist at Sunnybrook Hospital.
In filing a lawsuit against Dr. Glover, Sunnybrook hospital and the University of Toronto for failing to investigate that complaint, Dr. Duong is now being sued by the supervisor for defamation.
This case highlights the risks that people, especially women, face in raising accusations of wrongdoing in the workplace. Furthermore, it brings to light the dangers of the complicated employment relationship between hospitals, universities, physicians and medical residents, which leaves many complainants without protection due to the systemic lack of accountability from multiple powerful organizations.
In the latest available 2020 National Residents Survey, nearly two-thirds (64.1%) of residents experienced bullying in the previous 12 months. Of the residents who had experienced bullying, only 24.6% had utilized their university’s resources to address such situations. The majority of this subgroup (59.8%) reported that these resources were inadequate and the top reason being their program or university’s poor track record of addressing bullying (72.5%)(1).
Multiple studies also show that female medical trainees and physicians are more likely to be subject to sexual harassment than males, likely due to a dual vulnerability of being a learner and a woman (2-4). In a narrative study published in 2019 in the Lancet, which surveyed medical students on their experiences of sexual harassment during their training, common themes emerged to explain their experience, including normalization of sexual harassment, high impact of sexual harassment to themselves, learning to cope with sexual harassment and the need for institutions to develop better strategies to address sexual harassment (5).
This is an undeniably important and deeply ingrained problem that will require a large multi-faceted, thoughtful approach on multiple organizational levels.
We CANNOT wait for these institutions to change on their own.
But, we CAN hold them accountable to medical learners and we CAN start helping the individuals affected, one at a time.
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For full details of the case, please see the Globe and Mail article below, titled "Sunnybrook medical resident faces lawsuit after sexual misconduct allegation against prominent cardiologist":
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-medical-resident-sues-sunnybrook-u-of-t-over-handling-of-sexual/
Dr. Duong has given full consent to launch this GoFundMe campaign. All funds raised will go directly to Dr. Duong's trust at the law firm representing her, Levitt Sheikh. Please consider contributing within your means, but also as generously as possible. Every amount makes a difference. Thank you.
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If you or anyone you know is experiencing workplace harassment or violence, or sexual violence of any kind, here are some resources that are available to you.
Sexual Assault - Canada
Workplace Harassment - Toronto
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/accessibility-human-rights/human-rights-harassment-resources/
Physician and resident wellness support - Canada
https://www.ontariofamilyphysicians.ca/tools-resources/covid-19-resources/community-supports-special-populations/ocfp-mh-physician-resources.pdf
Organizer and beneficiary
Yezarni Wynn
Organizer
Toronto, ON
Sophia Duong
Beneficiary