A 42-year-old transgender biolgical male battling stage-four rectal cancer has sued New York’s prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, alleging surgeons and staff mocked his gender identity and altered his medical records while he was under anesthesia during a 2022 lung tumor removal.
Jennifer Capasso filed the discrimination lawsuit in New York Supreme Court in March, accusing the Manhattan hospital of violating city and state human rights laws that prohibit bias based on gender identity in health care settings.
Court filings obtained by the Daily Mail say Capasso secretly recorded the March 7, 2022, procedure with a phone hidden in his handbag.
The recording allegedly captured operating-room staff commenting on his anatomy, questioning transgender identity, and demanding his sex designation be changed from female to male.
According to the complaint, a nurse announced that Capasso "still has man parts" and stated she "doesn’t understand it."
Another staff member is quoted saying "it’s not righ" twice and adding "it doesn’t make sense."
The suit alleges staff referred to both Capasso and his transgender partner as "both men" and called Capasso "a transgender man" and "a male to female transgender."
During the surgery, a nurse allegedly phoned a hospital administrator to complain that Capasso’s records listed her sex as female and demanded the designation be changed to male.
The lawsuit claims the records were altered without Capasso’s consent shortly after the procedure and remained listed as male until early January 2025.
Capasso, who began transitioning in 2015 and underwent feminizing surgeries starting in 2021, says the incident left her feeling "unsafe and humiliated" and worsened her gender dysphoria.
Memorial Sloan Kettering has denied all allegations of discrimination and misgendering.
In court papers, hospital attorneys called the secret recording an invasion of staff privacy, writing, "The secret recording captured portions of a discussion that occurred during surgery while plaintiff was under anesthesia in which staff members discussed plaintiff's transgender status with every reasonable expectation that plaintiff would not hear this discussion. Plaintiff’s clandestine recording is largely inaudible, such that it is impossible to ascertain the speakers or the full context of their discussion."
The hospital declined further comment on the ongoing litigation.
Capasso was diagnosed with stage-four metastatic rectal cancer in 2020 and given roughly 18 months to live.
Despite the alleged mistreatment and a cancer recurrence discovered in August, he continues treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering, which he calls one of the best cancer centers in the country.
"I’m still alive," Capasso told The New York Times. "I can’t complain."
The case remains pending in New York Supreme Court.
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