ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis University surgical resident filed a civil lawsuit last week alleging a series of misconduct issues.

SLU resident Mandy Rice claims a series of failures and retaliatory behavior by her superiors is causing her to have to repeat her fourth year of her surgical residency.

The lawsuit was filed Friday against the university; Catherine Wittgen, the director of SLU's surgery residency program; Carl Freeman, the chief of the trauma service.

A spokesman for SLU declined to comment on pending litigation.

Rice alleges leaders discriminated against her based on her past experience as a registered nurse, telling her that it affects her ability to do her job as a surgeon.

She claims Freeman told her she was "too much of a nurse" and "too nice." Rice said Wittgen told her to "stop being a nurse" on a different occasion in front of her colleagues.

Rice points to a slew of violations she said she experienced in the past year. She said after she didn't pass a training exam, she wasn't provided with a faculty mentor for another year. She said Wittgen in particular retaliated against Rice after the resident decided to appeal her superior's decision to have her repeat her fourth year.