A former medical resident has filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation at a prominent university. Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester filed the complaint against the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on August 15, 2024.
Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester, an African-American female and former resident at LSU School of Medicine in Lafayette, claims she was subjected to ongoing harassment by her colleagues, particularly Dr. Tasia Bradley and Dr. Jimmy Skrasek. According to the complaint, the alleged discriminatory actions began during her first year of residency in 2020 when Dr. Bradley reportedly engaged in aggressive behavior towards her. "You better get your act together before medicine," Dr. Bradley allegedly told her before an internal medicine rotation.
Throughout October to November 2020, Dr. Bradley's harassing behavior included yelling aggressively at Dr. Kudji Sylvester and making disparaging comments such as "You don’t know anything" in front of other residents. Despite complaints from both Dr. Kudji Sylvester and other colleagues about this behavior, no significant action was taken by LSU administration to address it.
The situation escalated when another resident, Dr. Jimmy Skrasek, allegedly whispered inappropriate comments into Dr. Kudji Sylvester’s ear in July 2021, saying “You know you want this. You know you like this.” This incident left her distraught and led to further complications in her residency program.
Dr. Kudji Sylvester reported these incidents multiple times to various supervisors and coordinators within LSU but received little support or intervention. In one instance, after reporting harassment to Title IX Coordinator Leigh Smith-Vaniz on July 29, 2021, she was still required to work under Dr. Bradley who had been hired as an attending physician despite previous complaints.
In addition to the hostile work environment claims, Dr. Kudji Sylvester alleges that LSU retaliated against her for reporting these issues by placing her on academic probation and eventually forcing her resignation due to menopause-related brain fog—a condition that had not previously impacted her performance.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages exceeding $300,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of reputation, past and future lost wages among other damages caused by what she describes as a toxic work environment perpetuated by LSU's failure to address ongoing gender-based harassment.
Attorneys representing Dr. Cynthia Kudji Sylvester are Melanie C Lockett from Lowe Stein LLC along with Jessica Vasquez from Vasquez Law Office.