Bozorgmehr Pouyeh v. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

613 F. App'x 802
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 28, 2015
Docket14-13704
StatusUnpublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 613 F. App'x 802 (Bozorgmehr Pouyeh v. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bozorgmehr Pouyeh v. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, 613 F. App'x 802 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Bozorgmehr Pouyeh pro se appeals the district judge’s dismissal with prejudice of his Third Amended Complaint, alleging claims of discrimination in education and employment based on his national origin and alienage. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Complaint Allegations

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (“Bascom Palmer”), which is a part of the University of Miami (“the University”), houses an ophthalmology residency program at its 'facility. Each year, seven physicians are offered positions as residents in the ophthalmology residency program. All seven positions are filled through the Association of University Professors Ophthalmology Matching Program. “Graduates of recognized medical schools” are eligible to enter the residency program. R. at 289. A Basic Affiliation Agreement (“BAA”) between the University of Miami and the Public Health Trust of Jackson Health System (“the Trust”) sets forth how the residency programs under the Trust’s auspices are conducted, including the ophthalmology residency program at Bascom Palmer. The BAA provides that residents *804 are not students of the University, but rather are full-time employees.

Pouyeh is from Iran; he attended medical school there. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, he applied for a position as an ophthalmology resident at Bascom Palmer. Pouyeh alleged he had the following qualifications for the position: (1) scoring in the 99th and 96th percentiles on unspecified tests, (2) having recommendation letters, (3) having two years of research and clinical experience in ophthalmology, (4) giving presentations and publishing papers in ophthalmology, (5) being an author and reviewer for the American Academy of Ophthalmology Journal, (6) writing a book chapter about a topic in ophthalmology, and (7) being a top student in medical school in Iran. During this period, Pouyeh also was a volunteer-research fellow at Bascom Palmer. He was not selected for a residency position for any of the years he applied.

After Pouyeh was not selected for a 2011 residency position, he filed a complaint on January 23, 2012, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and alleged discrimination. In his EEOC complaint, Pouyeh alleged he had applied for the residency program in 2011 and was not selected because of his national origin. He stated specifically that program director, Dr. Stephen Gedde, and other faculty members had told him Bas-com Palmer does not “hire doctors for residency in eye surgery who are graduates from a medical school outside of the United States.” R. at 284. In July or August 2012, Pouyeh’s volunteer-research position was terminated. On December 6, 2012, Pouyeh went to Bascom Palmer to attend a weekly continuing-medical-education conference open to doctors and other healthcare professionals. While Pouyeh was using the restroom at Bascom Palmer, security guards threw him on the floor and detained him there until the police arrived and arrested him for trespassing.

Pouyeh’s Third Amended Complaint contained nine counts of discrimination and named as defendants Bascom Palmer; the Trust; Dr. Gedde and the members of the Residency Selection Committee (Dr. James Banta, Dr. Craig McKeown, Dr. Richard Lee, Dr. Wendy Lee, Dr. Audina Berrocal) (collectively, “the individual defendants”); Bascom Palmer Chairman Dr. Eduardo C. Alfonso, and Trust Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Richard Parish. Counts 1 through 4 were against Bascom Palmer and the Trust. Counts 1 through 3 concerned Pouyeh’s allegation his application for a position as a resident was denied. In each of the counts, he alleged specifically (1) he had applied for the position; (2) he was not interviewed; (3) he was treated differently than American interviewees; (4) Bascom Palmer and the Trust knew of his national origin or alienage; (5) other immigrant Iranian doctors also were excluded from interviews; and (6) his national origin or alienage was a motivating factor in declining to interview him.

In Count 1, Pouyeh alleged Bascom Palmer and the Trust engaged in education-based discrimination, in violation of Title VI, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, by denying his application for a residency position. Additionally, Pouyeh alleged he was deprived of the ability to participate in the weekly continuing-medical-education conference, because of his national origin. In Count 2, Pouyeh alleged Bascom Palmer and the Trust engaged in employment discrimination, in violation of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(l), and the Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”), Fla. Stat. § 760.10 by denying his application to the residency program. In Count 3, Pouyeh alleged Bascom Palmer and the Trust engaged in employment discrimination for failing to *805 hire him, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. In Count 4, Pouyeh alleged Bascom Palmer and the Trust retaliated against him and violated Title VII and the FCRA, by (1) terminating his volunteer-research position after he filed his EEOC complaint, (2) failing to hire him for a 2012 resident position, and (3) having him arrested for trespassing. In Count 5, Pouyeh named Bascom Palmer, the Trust, and Dr. Gedde as defendants; he alleged 42 U.S.C. § 1981 retaliation on the same basis as Count 4.

Count 6 named as defendants Bascom Palmer, the Trust, and the individual defendants. Pouyeh alleged the defendants engaged in FCRA discrimination by preventing him from obtaining a medical license. In Count 7, Pouyeh alleged Dr. Gedde and the other individual defendants deprived him of his due process right to employment, education, and to obtain a medicál license, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In Count 8, Pouyeh alleged the individual defendants conspired to interfere with his constitutional rights, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985, on a similar basis. In Count 9, Pouyeh alleged Dr. Eduardo, Dr. Parish, and the members of the Residency Selection Committee- negligently failed to prevent the conspiracy from depriving him of his civil rights, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1986.

B. Dismissal of Proposed Amended Complaint

Bascom Palmer, the Trust, and the individual defendants all filed motions to ■ dismiss Pouyeh’s Third Amended Complaint. Thereafter, Pouyeh filed a motion to amend his complaint further and to join additional defendants. He attached to his motion a proposed Fourth Amended Complaint. A magistrate judge issued a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”), recommending some of Pouyeh’s claims be dismissed.

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Bluebook (online)
613 F. App'x 802, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bozorgmehr-pouyeh-v-bascom-palmer-eye-institute-ca11-2015.