Former diversity chief sues New Jersey hospital 

Chris Pernell, MD, former chief strategic integration and health equity officer at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., is suing the hospital, alleging she was illegally forced out in 2022, according to NJ.com. 

In her lawsuit, filed Aug. 13 in state Superior Court in Essex County, Dr. Pernell alleges sexist and racial discrimination as well as harassment, according to the report. 

“When I took on my role at University Hospital, I always knew I would need to fight to protect the health and well-being of my community,” Dr. Pernell wrote on LinkedIn. “I trusted that the leadership and team members would work with me and partner with the community to build a better, safer, higher-quality, and culturally fluent hospital.

“I didn’t expect to have to fight for my own safety and well-being or for my credentials and expertise to be respected.

“The hostility, discrimination and disrespect I faced are the costs that racism and sexism impose on those who challenge the status quo and lead in the pursuit of population health, health justice, and racial equity. And that is a fight I will never give up. Too many lives and futures are at stake.”

A spokesperson for the hospital shared the following statement with Becker’s: “Thank you for reaching out. University Hospital cannot comment on ongoing litigation.”

University Hospital selected Dr. Pernell as chief strategic integration and health equity officer in 2019. Three years later, the hospital shared that Dr. Pernell was leaving the state’s only public acute-care facility “to pursue new opportunities.”

The University Hospital board said in a news release at the time: “We are grateful for Dr. Pernell’s contributions and leadership during her tenure at University Hospital. Her guidance has helped us provide exceptional care to all our patients and our community at large. The board of directors wishes Dr. Pernell continued success as she embarks on this next phase of her career.”

In her lawsuit, Dr. Pernell said she was asked to “quell the concerns of the Black workers” about racist and discriminatory behavior; that leadership tried to hamper diversity initiatives; and that she was the target of a “frivolous sham [internal] investigation” after pursuing the CEO role, according to NJ.com. Then-CEO Shereef Elnahal, MD, who is now president of Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University, left University Hospital in 2022 to serve as undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The New Jersey State Ethics Commission, which, according to NJ.com, is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit and would have spearheaded an investigation into Dr. Pernell’s complaints, told Becker’s in a statement that it “cannot confirm or deny the existence of any investigation, and as a result, we decline to comment at this time.”

Dr. Pernell, who is now director for the Center for Health Equity at the NAACP, seeks reinstatement, back pay and benefits, compensatory damages, legal fees and requiring the hospital to “take appropriate corrective action to stop and prevent retaliation at the workplace,” the report said.

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