Transgender Patient Sues Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for Years of Discriminatory Treatment
Wardenski P.C. and Correia & Puth, PLLC have filed a lawsuit against Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (“MSK”) on behalf of Jennifer Capasso, a 45-year-old transgender woman who has been a cancer patient at MSK for the past five years. In her complaint, filed in the New York Supreme Court for New York County, Ms. Capasso asserts that she has experienced ongoing discrimination for being transgender throughout her time as a patient at the leading cancer hospital.
Ms. Capasso, a Queens resident, became a patient at MSK after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic rectal cancer in 2020. During her five years as a patient, MSK providers and staff repeatedly referred to Ms. Capasso as a man, including by addressing and referring to her as “he,” “him,” “sir,” and “mister;” subjected her to offensive and degrading comments about being transgender, including during invasive medical procedures; and provided her with inferior care. For the first two years of her treatments, Ms. Capasso’s patient records at MSK accurately reflected her female sex. In early 2022, the hospital unilaterally changed Ms. Capasso’s sex designation to “male” without her knowledge or consent, and refused to correct her records for nearly three years.
Ms. Capasso chose MSK because of its reputation as one of the best cancer hospitals in the country. She wanted the best chance of receiving world-class medical treatment and surviving cancer. Although MSK holds itself out as a welcoming environment for transgender cancer patients, Ms. Capasso has experienced hostility throughout her time as patient there.
The lawsuit asserts that in one egregious incident in March 2022, while Ms. Capasso was in surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her lung, her surgical team engaged in a lengthy discussion of her transgender status. While she was under anesthesia, the operating room staff mocked her for having “man parts,” described her and her former partner (also a transgender woman) as “both men,” and commented that being transgender was “not right” and “doesn’t make sense.” During that surgery, the complaint asserts that one of the operating room nurses called a hospital administrator and demanded that Ms. Capasso’s sex designation in her patient records be changed from “female” to “male.” In apparent response to this demand, Ms. Capasso’s patient records were changed to incorrectly identify her sex as “male.” Over the ensuing three years, MSK refused to correct Ms. Capasso’s records, subjecting her to ongoing misgendering and other discriminatory treatment by hospital personnel during her ongoing cancer treatments.
“The discrimination I have experienced at MSK has affected me deeply and made me feel unsafe and unwelcome in a hospital I am depending on to save my life,” said Ms. Capasso. “I don’t want any other trans person to go through what I went through. I want to do everything I can to ensure that other trans people have the best chance of surviving cancer without fear of facing hostility or disrespect.”
The lawsuit asserts that MSK’s conduct violates the prohibition on discrimination based on gender identity in health care settings under the New York State and New York City human rights laws. New York City’s LGBTQ Health Care Bill of Rights guarantees transgender patients the right to have their gender identity “recognized, affirmed and documented,” including through “[s]taff members using [a patient’s] self-designated name and pronouns” and ensuring access to paper and electronic records that accurately reflect the patient’s “self-designated name, pronouns, and gender marker.”
“Under New York law, Ms. Capasso has the right to be treated as a woman by MSK and her other health care providers,” said Joseph Wardenski, Principal of Wardenski P.C. “MSK’s years-long refusal to ensure that its providers and staff treat Ms. Capasso with dignity and respect is unacceptable. We applaud Ms. Capasso for stepping up to seek justice for herself and other transgender patients at MSK.”
Unfortunately, Ms. Capasso’s experiences at MSK are all too common. According to the most recent U.S. Trans Survey, nearly half of all transgender adults reported having at least one negative experience in health care settings in the last year because they were transgender, including being refused health care, being misgendered, having a provider use harsh or abusive language, or having a provider be physically rough or abusive.
“It is now more important than ever to stand up to injustice and ensure that all individuals receive the basic level of dignity that our civil rights laws provide,” said Andrew Adelman, a Partner at Correia & Puth, PLLC. “The New York State and New York City human rights laws demand that health care providers treat all patients, including transgender patients, in a nondiscriminatory manner. MSK was unable to meet that standard. I am proud to stand alongside Ms. Capasso to hold MSK to account.”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, and court-ordered steps to ensure that Ms. Capasso and other transgender patients can obtain cancer care at MSK in a safe and respectful environment.
The Wardenski P.C. case team includes Joseph Wardenski, Zoe Savitsky, and Lily Gutterman.
