Duke University biomedical engineer Rachel Lance. (Kate Medley for The Assembly)

Last week, biomedical engineer Rachel Lance filed a federal lawsuit accusing Duke University of paying her 40 percent less than men with similar qualifications and retaliating against her when she complained. 

This isn’t the first time Duke’s anesthesiology department has been accused of discrimination and retaliation. In November 2020, Duke settled another lawsuit alleging that the department’s chair fired an anesthesiologist who “complained about the insensitive response and stubborn refusal to support those with mental health disabilities, and, additionally, the sex discrimination leveled against many female physicians.”  […]

Jeffrey Billman is a politics and law reporter for The Assembly. The former editor-in-chief of INDY in Durham, he holds a master's degree in public policy analysis from the University of Central Florida.

Michael Hewlett is a courts and law reporter for The Assembly. He was previously a legal affairs reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal and has won two Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Awards.