$1.1 Million Awarded in UCLA Suit : Courts: Doctor wins sex discrimination case involving former department head.

In the second blow to UCLA’s radiological sciences department in as many days, a jury has returned a $1.1-million sexual discrimination judgment against the department’s former chairman and the University of California Board of Regents.

The jury found for Dr. Antoinette Gomes, a tenured associate professor at UCLA, who alleged that Dr. Hooshang Kangarloo had prevented her promotion to full professor because she is a woman.

Among other things, Gomes alleged that Kangarloo refused to approve her request for business cards, denied her research opportunities and demoted her from section chief for cardiovascular radiology, replacing her with a man. She said Kangarloo frequently belittled her--referring to her as a “bitch”--and unfairly denied her two promotions.

During the trial, Kangarloo maintained that he had not discriminated against Gomes, but made professional judgments based on his assessment of her research and teaching.

On Thursday, the jury awarded Gomes $801,550 in economic damages and $350,000 for her pain and suffering. On Friday, the jury assessed an additional $5,000 in punitive damages to be paid by Kangarloo.

“The University of California is my alma mater. . . . I believe it’s supposed to do good things. So it was very painful to have to do this,” said Gomes, 52.

“You can accept (discrimination), you can walk away from it or you can dig your heels in and say, ‘I won’t be treated like this.’ . . . My only hope is that (UCLA’s) awareness will be raised--that this will make it better.”

Kangarloo, who served as department chairman until the end of 1993 and remains a full professor, did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday.

Joseph D. Mandel, UCLA’s vice chancellor for legal affairs, indicated that the university continues to back Kangarloo.

He said an internal review by Gomes’ peers found that she had been denied promotion because of her qualifications, not her sex.

“Based upon . . . our view of the evidence, I don’t think we’re yet of the view that a wrong of gender discrimination has been committed for which Dr. Gomes should be compensated,” Mandel said. “But we have to examine where we are and decide where we’re going from here.”

The sexual discrimination judgment came days after billing irregularities in the radiological sciences department led a federal grand jury to indict two of the department’s former top officials for allegedly embezzling more than $600,000 from UCLA.

Although Kangarloo--who headed the department while the alleged fraud took place--was not implicated, a UCLA audit concluded that he neglected to exercise adequate oversight.