Jane Doe v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 25, 2021
Docket19-2734
StatusUnpublished

This text of Jane Doe v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center (Jane Doe v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jane Doe v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center, (3d Cir. 2021).

Opinion

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________

No. 19-2734 __________

JANE DOE, Appellant

v.

MERCY CATHOLIC MEDICAL CENTER ____________________________________

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2-15-cv-02085) District Judge: Honorable Michael M. Baylson ____________________________________

Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) March 23, 2021 Before: JORDAN, MATEY and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: March 25, 2021) ___________

OPINION * ___________

PER CURIAM

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Jane Doe 1 appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Eastern

District of Pennsylvania, which granted Mercy Catholic Medical Center’s (“Mercy”)

motion for summary judgment. We will affirm the District Court’s judgment.

I.

The parties are familiar with the facts of the case and its long history, including a

previous appeal to this Court. See Doe v. Mercy Catholic Med. Ctr., 850 F.3d 545 (3d Cir.

2017). Doe was a radiology resident at Mercy from July 2011 until April 2013. Doe

alleges that Roe constantly followed her around, told her he loved her, and suggested they

take trips together. She also alleged that Roe was “constantly erected” and once touched

her breast. Her complaint alleges that Mercy terminated her residency in retaliation, and

as “quid pro quo” discrimination, because she refused Roe’s advances. We will discuss

incidents during her residency that are particularly pertinent to our decision. 2

1 The District Court allowed Doe to proceed under a pseudonym. Her suit referred to her alleged harasser, the director of Mercy’s residency program, as Dr. James Roe. 2 As explained below, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Doe. But Doe’s Statement of Undisputed Facts, Dkt. #116-2, in many cases cites only to her Declaration, which at the time of filing was unsworn and not made under penalty of perjury. See United States ex rel. Doe v. Heart Solution, PC, 923 F.3d 308, 315 (3d Cir. 2019) (explaining that a court may consider an unsworn declaration on summary judgment only if it is made under penalty of perjury). Doe later moved to correct her Declaration to show that it was made under penalty of perjury. Dkt. #131. The motion requested five days to submit an executed copy of the Declaration, which was included as an unsigned exhibit (Exhibit A) to the motion. Id. The District Court did not require Doe to file a signed version, as it was granting Mercy’s summary judgment motion. Dist. Ct. Op., Dkt. #135 at 4 n.2. As we are affirming the District Court’s decision, we too will overlook the lack of a declaration signed under penalty of perjury. And like the District Court, we will rely on Doe’s Declaration only to the extent that it is not contradicted by 2 A. Email in October 2011

Doe sent Roe an email in October 2011, stating that other attending physicians and

residents were “getting the feeling that there is something between us.” Roe brought the

email to the attention of residency program coordinator, Meggan Drake. Drake set up a

meeting with Doe and Roe. When confronted with the email, Doe denied that anything

was going on between her and Roe, and she apologized for sending the email.

B. Text messages in November 2011

Doe sent Roe four text messages just before and during the time the two were at a

conference in Chicago: (1) November 27, 2011–“Would you like to meet me at my

motel?”; (2) November 29, 2011–“I do understand, I will support and follow you. But i

[sic] will just wait for 3 years. At the end of 3 years, you will see....”; (3) November 30,

2011–“If you want to punish me for loving you, do it, it can not [sic] hurt more after seeing

your eyes. I am em [sic]”; (4) November 30, 2011–“I am humiliated enough for being [sic]

an unwanted position and will never be there again.” SUMF ¶ 49. Roe did not respond.

Instead, he reported Doe’s text messages to Dr. Eiser, Mercy’s Vice President of Medical

Education, and upon returning to Philadelphia, forwarded all the texts to Human Resources.

Doe admitted in her deposition that she had romantic feelings towards Roe at the time, but

the record. See id. n.3 (explaining that the Court would not credit statements in Doe’s Declaration that contradicted her deposition testimony or were “otherwise belied by the evidentiary record” (citing Baer v. Chase, 392 F.3d 609, 624 (3d Cir. 2004)); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c), (e). 3 she also testified that Roe said he loved her, he wanted to eventually marry her and have

children with her, and that her texts were intended to “let him down easy.” Declaration of

Jane Doe, Dkt. #131, Exh. A ¶ 31. Doe was asked to meet with Human Resources. She

admitted sending the texts to Roe and apologized for them. She testified that she informed

Human Resources that she had sent the text messages because she was trying to stop Roe’s

“romantic advances, personal advances,” and that Roe’s “sexual advances w[ere] creating

an unhelpful environment for [her] training.” SUMF ¶¶ 62-63 (alterations in original).

Human Resources suggested that she could meet with the Employee Assistance Program

(“EAP”). Doe alleges that she also told Dr. Keren Sofer of the EAP that Roe’s “extreme

personal appreciation and attention” was “creating hostile work environment” for her.

SUMF ¶ 69. Dr. Sofer’s notes for the sessions do not reflect such a statement. Instead, the

notes state that Doe reported “sen[ding] her program director [Roe] a text expressing her

romantic interest in him and he brought this to HR. [Doe] feels the interest was mutual.

Feels hurt and embarrassed.” SUMF ¶ 72.

C. Doe reacts to recommendations

In January 2013, Doe reacted angrily when she believed that Roe and Dr. Stanley

Chan 3 gave her bad recommendations for a neuroradiology fellowship that she planned to

pursue at Johns Hopkins following her residency at Mercy. The doctors’ letters, addressed

From December 2011 to February 2013, Doe worked under the supervision of 3

Dr. Chan, who completed all of her evaluations during her residency. 4 to Dr. Nafi Aygun at Johns Hopkins, lacked any negative information about Doe. 4 But

after receiving the letters, Dr. Aygun decided to call Dr. Roe because he believed Roe’s

letter lacked information about Doe’s clinical abilities. In the telephone call, Roe gave Dr.

Aygun the impression that Doe’s clinical performance was “subpar,” but Dr. Aygun

explained that he still intended to accept Doe into the fellowship. SUMF ¶ 101. Dr. Aygun

called Doe to congratulate her on receiving the fellowship, but apparently also conveyed

to Doe that Roe had mentioned that she had some clinical deficiencies.

Doe called Roe, who was working at the hospital that Saturday, and angrily

complained about his recommendation. Doe testified that Roe told her he did it to teach

her a lesson and then he hung up on her.

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