Cenzon-DeCarlo v. Mount Sinai Hospital

39 Misc. 3d 703
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 7, 2010
StatusPublished

This text of 39 Misc. 3d 703 (Cenzon-DeCarlo v. Mount Sinai Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cenzon-DeCarlo v. Mount Sinai Hospital, 39 Misc. 3d 703 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

[704]*704OPINION OF THE COURT

Bernadette Bayne, J.

The plaintiff, a nurse employed by defendant, the Mount Sinai Hospital, claims that on May 24, 2009, while working an extra “on-call shift” at the defendant hospital, she was forced by the defendants to assist in an abortion procedure against her known religious objection. The plaintiff further alleges that in retaliation to complaints that she made to her supervisors, and a grievance that she filed under her union’s collective bargaining, the defendants assigned the plaintiff only one extra “on-call shift” for the month of August 2009. The plaintiff also claims that, in July of 2009, the defendants demanded, and she refused, to sign a document stating that she would assist in abortion procedures, if they were deemed emergencies by the hospital, or her requests to be assigned to the extra “on-call shifts,” for which she volunteered, in the month of September 2009 would be denied.

Thereafter, the plaintiff commenced an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, claiming that the defendant hospital’s actions constitute prohibited discrimination under the Church Amendment (42 USC § 300a-7 [c]). The plaintiff also sought an injunction (1) prohibiting Mount Sinai from receiving any further qualifying federal funds under 42 USC § 300a-7 (c) until it demonstrated compliance with the Church Amendment’s nondiscrimination provisions; (2) requiring Mount Sinai to disgorge qualifying federal funds it received under 42 USC § 300a-7 (c); and (3) ordering Mount Sinai to restore plaintiffs access to on-call surgical team assignments and to refrain from forcing the plaintiff and other health care personnel to participate in abortion procedures against their objections. Finally, the plaintiff asked for damages from Mount Sinai for violating her rights under the Church Amendment.

Ultimately, the District Court concluded that there was “no basis for implying a private right of action under the Church Amendment,” and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the action pursuant to rule 12 (b) (6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Cenzon-DeCarlo v Mount Sinai Hosp., 2010 WL 169485, *4, 2010 US Dist LEXIS 3208, *12 [ED NY, Jan. 15, 2010, No. 09 CV 3120 (RJD)]). In November of 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the decision of the Eastern District Court, stating that “[s]ection 300 does not confer upon Cenzon-DeCarlo a private right of action [705]*705to enforce its terms.” (Cenzon-DeCarlo v Mount Sinai Hosp., 626 F3d 695, 699 [2010].) The court also found that the plaintiff was not entitled to injunctive relief, stating that “[b]ecause we find no indication of Congressional intent to confer a private right of action, injunctive relief would not be an appropriate remedy here.” (Id.) The District Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims made by the plaintiff and the appeals court noted, with regard to the plaintiffs state discrimination claims, that “[w]hile making no statement on the possible merits of such claims, we observe that these and other avenues to potential relief remain open to her.” (Id.)

The plaintiff thereafter commenced an action in state court, alleging violations of article I, §§ 3 and 11 of the New York State Constitution; section 296 (1) (a) and (7) of the Executive Law; section 8-107 (1) and (7) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York; and section 79-i of the Civil Rights Law. The plaintiff also alleges a cause of action sounding in intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The defendants in this action move this court for an order, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint, in its entirety, “because it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” Specifically, the defendants argue that the plaintiffs claim under article I, § 3 of the New York State Constitution should be dismissed because it “only pertains to state action and therefore does not apply to private employers or individuals.” The defendants similarly argue that the plaintiff’s claim under Civil Rights Law § 79-i should be dismissed “because it is a criminal statute that does not confer a private right of action.”

The defendants further argue that the plaintiff’s “claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws should be dismissed because there are no factual allegations connecting her claims of hostile work environment and retaliation to her religion.” The defendants also argue that the plaintiffs claims under article I, § 11 of the New York State Constitution should be dismissed because the plaintiff “fails to state a claim of discrimination on the basis of her religion under the New York City and State Human Right laws. Her claim under Article 1, Section 11 of the New York State Constitution should therefore be dismissed.”

Finally, the defendants argue that the plaintiff’s claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress should also be [706]*706dismissed because “[t]he allegations in the Plaintiffs complaint clearly do not rise to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct required of an emotional distress claim.”

In opposition to the motion, the plaintiff argues that the portion of the defendant’s motion seeking dismissal of the plaintiffs claims that were made pursuant to the Executive Law, the Administrative Code and article I, § 11 of the New York State Constitution should be denied because “[r]eligious discrimination is thoroughly alleged in the complaint” and because the defendants “severely misunderstand employment discrimination law, failing to acknowledge the different legal theories of discrimination that the Court must recognize: discrimination as failure to accommodate, as creating a hostile work environment, and as quid pro quo adverse action discrimination.” The plaintiff contends that the allegations in the complaint thoroughly support the various religious discrimination claims being asserted.

The plaintiff also argues that the portion of the defendants’ motion seeking dismissal of her cause of action under Civil Rights Law § 79-i should be denied because, contrary to the defendants’ contentions, the plaintiff “need not show that Civil Rights Law § 79-i has an implied right of action, since Article 1, Section 11 of the Constitution combines with § 79-i to afford her relief even in the absence of an explicit right of action stated under § 79-i.” The plaintiff also argues that, in addition to the foregoing, “§ 79-i does contain an implied private right of action.”

The plaintiff also opposes the portion of the defendants’ motion seeking dismissal of her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, arguing that the claim should not be dismissed because she “has pled a textbook case of intentional infliction of emotional distress,” which the “[defendants only rebut by another denial of the facts.”

Finally, although the plaintiff makes a general argument regarding the claims and allegations that she made pursuant to article I, § 3 of the New York State Constitution, and why those claims should not be dismissed, in the conclusion paragraph of her opposition papers, the plaintiff states that “Mrs. DeCarlo respectfully requests that the Court deny Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss except with respect to the claim under Art.

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Bluebook (online)
39 Misc. 3d 703, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cenzon-decarlo-v-mount-sinai-hospital-nysupct-2010.