A jury will hear the claims of a former USC doctor who sued the university alleging he suffered a backlash for opposing a woman’s appointment as interim chief of cardiology, a job he maintains was granted because of her Asian background and gender.
Dr. Antreas Hindoyan is suing USC, Keck School of Medicine of USC and Dr. Vivian Mo. The board-certified cardiologist alleges he was required to participate in a $14,000 remedial program, experienced a reduction of clinical duties and denied a $100,000 merit raise in retaliation for opposing Mo’s appointment.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt found that the scope of the arbitration clause in Hindoyan’s employment agreement was “impermissibly broad” because it requires the arbitration of “all claims, whether or not arising out of employee’s university employment, remuneration or termination,” making the arbitration clause “substantively unconscionable.”
The judge further found that the arbitration clause was one-sided and provided significant benefits to USC.
According to the lawsuit filed last Aug. 13, Hindoyan was officially terminated for poor performance. He denies the allegation and contends it is defamatory because he has had to repeat the university’s accusations against him to family members, colleagues, credentialing bodies and prospective employers who asked him why he was let go.
Hindoyan says he was told of his job loss during a brief meeting with senior USC leadership in November 2024 and that management only gave “vague and disputed allegations of performance issues.”
Attorneys for USC, Keck and Mo have denied Hindoyan’s allegations, which include whistleblower retaliation, harassment and both gender and race discrimination. Hindoyan is Armenian. The defense lawyers contend the claims are barred by the statute of limitations and they also have filed a motion to compel arbitration that is scheduled for hearing June 23.
Hindoyan’s suit states that he was once a “rising star” within the cardiovascular division. But in 2019, Mo, the interim chief of cardiovascular medicine and later chief medical officer of Keck Care, took over as supervisor of the plaintiff’s clinical, research and teaching activities, the suit further states.
From the outset of their professional relationship, Mo made it “unmistakably clear” that she disfavored male interventional cardiologists from the era of a former chief of cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Ray Matthews, and that she wanted to advance other doctors at Hindoyan’s expense, the suit alleges.
In 2009, when Mo had direct influence over Hindoyan’s cardiovascular fellowship application, she told the plaintiff, “You don’t have what it takes to be a cardiologist,” according to the suit.
The then-chair of medicine praised Hindoyan’s work, but in 2019 he removed Matthews and promoted Mo, saying, “USC will be proud of me, she’s a female and she’s Asian,” according to the suit, which further states that Hindoyan objected to Mo’s appointment because he believed that it was based on gender and race rather than her qualifications. Hindoyan also said that he still backed Matthews.
Hindoyan contends that Mo began retaliating against him and in June 2024 accused him of doing “half-ass work” in a non-urgent patient-care situation while he was off-duty. He says his complaints about the alleged backlash were given no meaningful response.
After a third investigation ordered against Hindoyan in five years, a volume no other female and non-Armenian USC cardiologist has faced, he was denied a promised $100,000 merit raise, the suit states.
Before his firing, Hindoyan was stripped of core responsibilities and lived under the constant threat of baseless investigations while remaining and in fear of losing both his position and his license, all because he is male, of Armenian ancestry and opposed Mo’s alleged discriminatory actions against him, the suit states.
Trial of Hindoyan’s lawsuit is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2028.