A New York attorney sued the University of Miami and its affiliates in federal court after his client, an academic surgeon, claimed the institution was a “vipers’ nest of race, gender and national origin discrimination.”

David Sanford, chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp and lead attorney for the plaintiff, Dr. Omaida C. Velazquez, sued the university and defendants, the University of Miami School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System.