Brown v. Saint Anthony Hospitals

858 F. Supp. 146, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9766, 1994 WL 373882
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJuly 11, 1994
DocketCiv. A. No. 93-K-595
StatusPublished

This text of 858 F. Supp. 146 (Brown v. Saint Anthony Hospitals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Saint Anthony Hospitals, 858 F. Supp. 146, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9766, 1994 WL 373882 (D. Colo. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KANE, Senior District Judge.

This case is before me on the motion for summary judgment of Defendant, Saint Anthony Hospitals d/b/a Saint Anthony Hospital North, Inc. (“St. Anthony”). St. Anthony argues Plaintiff Maryann Brown’s claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634 presents no genuine issue of material fact. I agree and grant the motion. This ease was set for oral argument, but after reviewing the briefs and the authorities cited therein I have determined that oral argument would not assist me materially in deciding the motion and therefore would constitute an unreasonable expenditure of time and expense to the parties. The setting for oral argument is accordingly vacated.

I. Facts.

From 1981 through 1991, Brown was employed as an Intravenous (“IV”) Services Department Nurse whose full time responsibility was to insert IV devices and to instruct paramedics and other nurses on how to do so. During that period, Brown did not function as a full-time medical/surgical staff nurse or a ward charge nurse and did not perform medical nursing duties on a full-time basis. About 1990, due to budget restraints, St. Anthony reduced its nursing staff and abolished the IV Services Department. As a result, by 1991, Brown’s forty hour week IV nurse position was reduced to a twenty hour week position. To make up the remaining twenty hours, Brown worked in the nurse float pool, a group of nurses who perform nursing functions in various departments.

Brown was not being employed for enough hours in the float pool and requested and obtained a transfer to the Labor and Delivery, Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/GYN) unit under the supervision of Anne Williams. Standard training and orientation procedures required all nurses assigned to the OB/GYN unit to demonstrate proficiency and competency related to the unit’s services. Brown understood she and all other assigned nurses transferring to the OB/GYN would have to undergo the Medical/Surgieal Performance Based Development System (PBDS) skills assessment evaluation. Brown failed to meet the OB/GYN orientation requirements and failed to pass the standard fetal monitoring test. On July 9, 1991, supervisor Anne Williams advised Brown she would not be retained in the OB/GYN unit due to her lack of proficiency in OB nursing services. Williams informed Brown she could remain assigned to the OB/GYN unit in an orientation status for an additional four weeks to allow her to find a position elsewhere in the hospital.

During the next four weeks, Brown applied for staff nursing positions in the float pool and psychiatric units and as a Home Health Services nurse. Home Health Services is a separate corporate entity functioning independently of St. Anthony and providing nursing care to bedridden patients at home. Home Health Services interviewed Brown but did not hire her. Brown maintains she was not told the reasons therefor. Lizanne Porter, Employee Services Specialist with St. Anthony states in her affidavit Brown was not hired because of the need for nurses with demonstrated medical/surgical nursing skills and experience. When Brown applied to the float pool, the pool’s manager, Kay Pierson, advised her there were no current openings. The float pool serviced the OB/GYN unit, operating room, emergency room and psychiatric ward. Pierson knew Brown had failed to demonstrate required nursing proficiency to qualify for the OB/GYN unit. In 1990, Brown had failed to pass an EKG nursing proficiency test. Pierson informed Brown she was concerned about her medical nursing proficiency.

St. Anthony’s nursing policy provided nurses seeking transfer into a different practice area may be required by the responsible manager to go through a PBDS skills assessment. The policy encouraged managers to require such test unless the transferring nurse had recently gone through such assessment. Brown had not recently undergone a PBDS assessment and was not exempt from the policy. Brown refused to go to the edu[148]*148cation department and participate in a PBDS assessment.

On March 25, 1992, St. Anthony notified Brown “effective October 23, 1991, [she] voluntarily resigned [her] registered nurse position” by abandoning it. (Verified Memo Br. Supp. Def.’s Mot.S.J., Ex. I.) At that time, Brown had already been employed as a nurse for six months at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital. Brown understood St. Anthony’s policy that: “Two consecutive no call/no show absences will be considered a self-termination by the employee.” (Id., Ex. K.)

II. Summary Judgment Standard.

Summary judgment is proper if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In considering this motion, I must construe the factual record and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to Brown, the non-moving party. Cone v. Longmont United Hosp. Ass’n, 14 F.3d 526, 528 (10th Cir.1994). The mere allegation of a factual dispute will not defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2514, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The non-moving party must point to specific facts, “by any of the kinds of evidentiary materials listed in Rule 56(c), except the mere pleadings themselves,” to avoid summary judgment. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

III. Merits.

In Cone v. Longmont United Hospital Association, 14 F.3d at 529, the court outlined the burden shifting process in an age discrimination case. At the first stage, Brown must prove a prima facie case of discrimination. To do this, she must show (1) she is within the protected age group, (2) she was doing satisfactory work, (3) she was discharged, and (4) her position was filled by a younger person. Id. If Brown satisfies the prima facie requirements under the ADEA, the case enters the second stage where the burden of production moves to St. Anthony. At this stage, St. Anthony must present a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action. If St. Anthony articulates such reason, the burden moves back to Brown who must show age was a determinative factor in St. Anthony’s employment decision, or St. Anthony’s explanation for its action was mere pretext. Failure to come forward with evidence of pretext will entitle St. Anthony to judgment. Id.

St. Anthony argues Brown has failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination and, legitimate business considerations, not Brown’s age were determining factors concerning St. Anthony’s actions. St. Anthony concedes Brown falls within the age group protected by ADEA in that, even when she was first employed by St. Anthony, Brown was over the age of forty. However, St. Anthony maintains Brown has failed to satisfy the other three elements of a prima facie case of age discrimination.

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858 F. Supp. 146, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9766, 1994 WL 373882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-saint-anthony-hospitals-cod-1994.