A Montgomery County jury on Wednesday ruled that the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), based in Chevy Chase, did not consider Dr. Vivian Cheung’s disability as a motivating factor in its decision not to renew her employment.
“HHMI is pleased that a Montgomery County jury has agreed that Dr. Cheung’s allegations are without merit,” said HHMI President, Dr. Erin O’Shea in an email statement. “We look forward to putting this matter behind us and continuing to focus on supporting scientific discoveries that advance human health and our fundamental understanding of biology.”
Cheung, 56, of Bethesda, one of the top researchers of Lou Gehrig’s disease, sued HHMI, alleging disability discrimination.
“We were disappointed. I think the power of large private science is hard to challenge,” David Oppenheimer, Cheung’s attorney, said. “The problems of discrimination in peer review are hard to challenge.”
Cheung is a researcher studying RNA and how it affects Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) and was selected by HHMI in 2008 to be an investigator, meaning she received annual funding from them for her research. However, her contract was not renewed in 2018.
She said her contract was not renewed because of her disability. In 2015, she developed symptoms from a rare genetic disease and surgical procedure, struggling with her vision, mobility, blood pressure and being wheelchair-bound, and after telling the institute about this, she said she was treated differently.
HHMI said that she was not renewed in 2018 because her scientific research did not meet the rigorous standards of the institute. They said that her disability was not even discussed during her review process.