Kasuri v. St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center

897 F.2d 845
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 2, 1990
DocketNos. 89-3041, 89-3086 and 89-3224
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 897 F.2d 845 (Kasuri v. St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kasuri v. St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center, 897 F.2d 845 (6th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

RALPH B. GUY, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff, Dr. Jasbir K. Kasuri, appeals from this judgment in an employment discrimination case in favor of the defendant St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center. Plaintiff raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs Title VII claim for discrimination based on national origin; (2) whether the district court erred in directing a verdict in the defendant’s favor on the plaintiff’s state law fraud claim; (3) whether the district court correctly instructed the jury that an essential element of promissory estoppel is a “clear and unambiguous promise”; (4) whether the district court properly allowed the introduction into evidence of certain deposition testimony; and (5) whether the court erred in granting a directed verdict dismissing the claim [847]*847against the individual defendants. The defendants cross-appeal for attorney’s fees based upon 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k) and Fed. R.Civ.P. 37(c). We affirm.

I. FACTS

The plaintiff in this action was born in India, where she received her medical education. She emigrated to this country, and she took and passed the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates examination, which is a prerequisite to obtaining a residency. In order to obtain a license to practice medicine in the United States, Dr. Kasuri was required to complete a residency. In 1983, the plaintiff applied to several residency programs, including the Internal Medicine Residency Program at defendant St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center (St. Elizabeth).

Dr. Kasuri also served as an extern at St. Elizabeth. The hospital did not compensate Dr. Kasuri for her services, but she was able to further her education by performing rotations under the supervision of a physician. The program was designed to enhance the skills and education of physicians attempting to obtain residency positions, particularly foreign medical graduates. The plaintiff remained as an extern from July 1984 until January 1985, when St. Elizabeth discontinued the program altogether.

The majority of positions in residency programs are filled through a National Resident Matching Program, which assists in matching applicants with programs. Applicants list the programs they prefer, and the programs list their preferences for applicants. Left over positions are filled by the many applicants who remain available after the match list comes out each year. Ultimately, however, the actual selection of residents is a value judgment that is made by the program director at each individual hospital. St. Elizabeth participates in the National Resident Matching Program, although it is unable to fill all of its positions through the match.

After Dr. Kasuri was first denied entry into St. Elizabeth’s residency program in 1984, she continued to work as an extern until the externship program was terminated. Later, she served as a research assistant to Dr. Wilkins, who was the program director at St. Elizabeth. Dr. Kasuri claims that she was promised a residency position on various occasions, contingent on her continued service as a research assistant. Dr. Wilkins and his successor, Dr. Johnson, deny making any such promises. They acknowledge encouraging Dr. Kasu-ri’s efforts to obtain a residency position at St. Elizabeth and elsewhere, and they assert that they retained her as a research assistant to provide her with enhanced education and training.

Dr. Kasuri applied for and was denied admission into the residency program at St. Elizabeth in 1985, 1986, and 1987. She asserts that she was told by the hospital that the residency program would only take one Indian at a time. Dr. Wilkins and Dr. Johnson deny making these statements, and they deny the existence of such a policy. As a matter of fact, the internal medicine program at St. Elizabeth has only had one Indian per program year with the exception of one year, when the program had two Indian nationals. After allegedly being told of this policy, Dr. Kasuri filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Dr. Kasuri repeatedly applied to several residency programs at many hospitals, and she was finally admitted to a program at St. Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which she began in July 1988. Dr. Wilkins recommended her to Dr. Hahn, the program director at St. Peter’s.

This action was commenced by the plaintiff in 1987. She asserted a Title VII claim against St. Elizabeth for discrimination based upon national origin pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. In addition, she asserted causes of action under Ohio law for fraud and promissory estoppel, naming St. Elizabeth, Dr. Johnson, and Dr. Wilkins as defendants. St. Elizabeth made a motion for a directed verdict on the Title VII claim, which was denied. At the close of all evidence, however, the judge issued an oral ruling in favor of the defendant. The [848]*848court granted the defendants’ motion for a directed verdict dismissing the fraud claim, and the promissory estoppel claim went to the jury. The individual defendants were dismissed from the case pursuant to a directed verdict, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant St. Elizabeth.

II. PLAINTIFF’S APPEAL

The plaintiff raises several issues on appeal, and the defendant cross-appeals. We will address these issues seriatim, beginning with the plaintiff’s allegations of error.

A. The Title VII Claim

Dr. Kasuri urges the court to reverse the dismissal of the Title VII claim or to remand the claim with instructions to the court to enter findings that reflect the three-part analysis under McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973).

We must review the district court’s decision with great deference and may only reverse if we find clear error. Reynolds v. Humko Prods., 756 F.2d 469 (6th Cir.1985). We may remand the case only if we determine that the district judge did not “find the facts specially and state separately its conclusions of law thereon ...” as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a).

Dr. Kasuri contends that the court erred in not expressing its factual findings in terms of the analysis set forth in McDonnell Douglas and as refined in Texas Dep’t of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). This analysis proceeds in three parts, and was expressed by the Supreme Court in Burdine as follows:

In McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 [93 S.Ct.

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897 F.2d 845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kasuri-v-st-elizabeth-hospital-medical-center-ca6-1990.