Unusual Settlement Caps Sex-Discrimination Case

Observers laud the fact that the agreement lets Heidi Weissmann and her former employers keep their controversial debate alive Despite a recently announced out-of-court settlement in medical researcher Heidi S. Weissmann's seven-year-long sex-discrimination case against her former employers, each side still insists that it would have prevailed had the case gone to trial. While it is debatable whether the $900,000 settlement--notab

Written byBarbara Spector
| 9 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
9:00
Share

Weissmann, formerly an attending physician at Montefiore Medical Center and an associate professor of radiology at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. (R. Kaufman, The Scientist, Sept. 14, 1992, page 1), says she hopes the settlement of her United States District Court suit against the two institutions will "let women [pursuing discrimination cases] know they can have the courage of their convictions and be successful in the end."

Says Catherine Didion, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Association for Women in Science (AWIS): "The more we get this on the table--the good and the bad--the more we can be able to address it and get on with the science."

According to the settlement agreement, $35,000 of the amount constitutes back pay, $540,000 compensates Weissmann for pain and suffering, and $325,000 represents legal fees and expenses. An attorney for Weissmann, Edward S. Rudofsky of New York, says ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Related Topics

Meet the Author

Published In

Share
Image of a man in a laboratory looking frustrated with his failed experiment.
February 2026

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

When experiments refuse to cooperate, you try again and again. For Rafael Najmanovich, the setbacks ultimately pushed him in a new direction.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies