Transplant Pioneer Quits University Of Washington, Settles Suit

By Ruth Schubert

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

The founder of the University of Washington's heart transplant program, Dr. Margaret Allen, has resigned from the university and accepted $750,000 to settle her sex-discrimination lawsuit.

Allen's departure one week ago ended a bitter conflict between the world's first woman to perform a heart transplant and the UW's male-dominated surgery department.

In the lawsuit, which was settled through mediation and arbitration, Allen argued that discriminatory demotions and reductions in her surgical load damaged her career and earnings. The university maintained that the trajectory of Allen's career was determined by her capabilities and a decision to focus on research.

In the end, both sides agreed that it was best for Allen to leave.

"Anything productive or positive that's come from the relationship has gone by the wayside," said Dr. John Coombs, associate dean of the UW School of Medicine. "I think at this point that it is best that we say, 'Fine, we gave it a shot, we gave it a try, we tried to sort things out, we tried to make it work, and it didn't.'"

Allen joined the UW in 1985 after a residency at Stanford University. She established the heart-transplant programs at the UW and at Children's Hospital Regional Medical Center and served as the president of the United Network for Organ Sharing, the national organization responsible for distributing donated organs.

In the field, Allen has achieved a number of firsts for women.

"It is a male fiefdom," said Allen's attorney, Judith Lonnquist. "There are very few women that are allowed in the halls of cardiothoracic surgery."

Allen was not available to comment yesterday. Lonnquist said Allen plans to stay in Seattle and hopes to continue on several research projects. To do so, Allen would have to either transfer her current funding grants to wherever she will be employed next or work with a UW department completely independent of the medical school, according to the binding arbitration agreement.

She particularly wants to continue work on the "engineered heart" project, an effort based in the UW's bioengineering department that aims to grow "patches" and even new hearts from the patient's own cells.

"It would be a travesty to have this $11 million grant worked on by everybody except Doctor Allen," Lonnquist said. "We're trying to work with the School of Engineering to see if they can administer the grant."

According to documents filed in the mediation proceedings, Allen's conflicts began in about 1988 when members of the Anesthesiology Department started saying she was paranoid, difficult to get along with, insecure and indecisive. Allen said the statements were founded in gender-based discrimination.

The university countered that members of the Anesthesiology Department were frustrated with Allen because she was "very, very slow" in the operating room and didn't react well to crises.

The situation got worse after the appointment of Dr. Edward Verrier as the new chief of cardiothoracic surgery -- an appointment the university says Allen did not support.

In May 1989, Dr. David Ashbaugh, acting chairman of the Surgery Department, wrote Allen telling her that her only options were to "buckle down and support the new chief" or leave.

Allen asserted that the letter came out of nowhere.

Once Verrier was on staff at the UW, he "vehemently harangued" her in hour-long sessions and said he "hated her," Allen said.

The university, on the other hand, said Verrier was in charge of making sure Allen was promoted to associate professor -- a step that had been delayed because of concerns from anesthesiology faculty members.

But Lonnquist pointed out that Allen's patients had a very high survival rate. "Regardless of what they say about her, the bottom line is: Does the patient survive?"

Under the new leadership, Allen's operating room hours -- which significantly affect physicians' salaries -- dropped. She was removed as director of the electrophysiology program and replaced by a man with less seniority.

In 1996, Verrier removed Allen as surgical director of the heart transplantation program. By 1999, her salary had dropped below $100,000, from $265,000 a year in 1990.

In recent years, Allen's focus shifted to research, a move that Allen argued she was forced into and that the university said she chose.

Copyright © 1999-2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

This article posted July 17, 2000.