Hard-hitting lawsuit accuses Mayo Clinic of playing fast and loose with AI—and playing hardball with a whistleblower

The Mayo Clinic is being sued by a former research director who says the institution retaliated against her for crying foul over alleged serious improprieties involving AI.

In a federal suit filed with a U.S. district court in Minnesota, Traci Tamiko Eto, MA, accuses the decorated healthcare system of isolating, demoting and letting her go while she was on medical leave. 

Eto claims Mayo targeted her after she sought to expose rushed AI adoption that, in her judgment, put patient safety and privacy at risk. 

She also alleges Mayo manipulated data critical to medical research. 

She is being represented by lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, which announced the action July 9.

Eto’s team is seeking a jury trial plus back pay, lost benefits and compensatory and punitive damages. 

“The Mayo Clinic made the deliberate choice to put profit first, over patient privacy, and in one egregious instance, patient safety,” HKM lawyer Artur Davis, JD, says in the announcement, which was emailed to the media but not immediately posted online. 

“By sounding the alarm when Mayo’s AI mission lost its way, Traci Tamiko Eto valiantly made herself, her career and her reputation a target,” Davis adds. “She is standing up to corporate immorality and arrogance.”

Cascade of escalation ended with termination 

According to the suit, Eto first uncovered shortcomings in AI oversight at Mayo Clinic shortly after being hired as director of research operations in 2023. 

In addition, according to the suit and the HKM announcement:

• Eto noticed data was being manipulated in order to conceal unfavorable outcomes and at least one instance where a cardiac surgical procedure was approved without the required institutional review. 
   
• When Eto raised these serious concerns, she was dismissed and criticized for impeding Mayo’s rush to profit from AI.
   
• In February 2025, Eto notified Mayo’s legal department of her observations. After this, “the retaliation dramatically increased as she was confronted by a supervisor … who warned her that she could either resign quietly or become ‘unemployable.’” 

The lawsuit goes on to explain that, after Eto took the latter step, Mayo isolated her from her team, removed her supervisory responsibilities and cut her pay.  

The recriminations culminated in termination of Eto’s employment in December 2025—while she was on medical leave, HKM underscores.  

The suit says Mayo sent Eto a notification indicating her position was being eliminated as part of a reduction in force. “In fact,” HKM says, “her job was the only one eliminated.”

So far, Mayo saying little in its own defense 

In local coverage of the development, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Mayo, the state’s largest employer, sent the newspaper a written statement.

The statement says Mayo Clinic doesn’t comment on active litigation but is “committed to the responsible development and deployment of AI, with privacy, security, transparency and compliance embedded throughout our processes.”

“Our research and clinical innovation are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations,” the statement adds, “and we remain steadfast in upholding the trust patients place in us and respecting their privacy.”

Star Tribune reporter Jeremy Olson points out the lawsuit “comes amid an explosion of AI usage in healthcare that is helping doctors with everything from notetaking to diagnostic evaluations of test results and imaging scans—but also broader concerns over the accuracy of AI tools and privacy of patient data.” 

Meanwhile, Olson notes, Mayo has “positioned itself as a global leader in the development of AI technologies and tools to guide healthcare decision-making.”