Lewis v. Erie County Medical Center Corp.

907 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2012 WL 5387361, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157064
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedNovember 1, 2012
DocketNo. 09-CV-1027-JTC
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 907 F. Supp. 2d 336 (Lewis v. Erie County Medical Center Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lewis v. Erie County Medical Center Corp., 907 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2012 WL 5387361, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157064 (W.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

INTRODUCTION

JOHN T. CURTIN, District Judge.

Plaintiff commenced this action on November 30, 2009 pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12111 et seq., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 [341]*341U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), NY.Exec. Law § 296 et seq. She alleges that the defendant intentionally discriminated, harassed, and retaliated against her on the basis of her disability and race. Additionally, plaintiff alleges that defendant refused to provide reasonable accommodations and made impermissible medical inquiries in violation of the ADA and NYSHRL. This matter is before the court on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Item 34).

BACKGROUND

As stated above, plaintiff commenced this action with the filing of a complaint on November 30, 2009 (Item 1). Plaintiff is an HIV-positive, African-American woman employed as a social worker at defendant Erie County Medical Center (“ECMC”). She alleged that she began to experience discrimination in 2002 at the hands of her supervisor, Kathleen Walsh. Specifically, plaintiff complained that Ms. Walsh “belittled, screamed at, chastised, and otherwise treated her differently than non-disabled and Caucasian employees.” (Item 1, ¶ 35). Additionally, plaintiff complained that the defendant denied reasonable requests for schedule changes, to accommodate her medical appointments and to allow her to participate in an internship as part of her post-graduate studies. Id., ¶¶ 36-37. Plaintiff alleged that she was forced to attend meetings during her lunch break while similarly-situated non-disabled and Caucasian employees were not required to do so. Id., ¶ 39. She also alleged that Ms. Walsh improperly reviewed plaintiffs medical file and closed her medical case at ECMC. Id., ¶ 44. Plaintiff asserted 16 separate causes of action — disability discrimination under the ADA and the NYSHRL, failure to provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA and the NYSHRL, impermissible medical inquiry under the ADA and the NYSHRL, race discrimination under Title VII and the NYSHRL, retaliation under Title VII, the ADA, and the NYSHRL, and hostile work environment under the ADA, the NYSHRL, and Title VII.

Defendant filed its answer to the complaint on January 29, 2010 (Item 7). Following the completion of discovery, the defendant filed this motion on- June 26, 2012 (Item 34). It argues that plaintiff cannot establish a prima facie case of discrimination under either Title VII, the ADA, or the NYSHRL because she has admitted that the supervisor, Ms. Walsh, treated employees of all races poorly. Additionally, defendant argues that plaintiff has not shown that she suffered an adverse employment action or that she was retaliated against in response to-protected activity. Finally, defendant argues that plaintiff has failed' to show that defendant undertook any impermissible medical inquiry or failed to provide reasonable accommodations.

Plaintiff filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion on August 22, 2012 (item 35), and defendant filed a reply memorandum on September 11, 2012 (Item 36). The court has determined that oral argument is unnecessary. For the reasons that follow, the defendants’ • motion for summary judgment is granted.

FACTS1

Plaintiff commenced her employment at ECMC in October 1997 and is currently [342]*342employed as a drug counselor in the Immunodeficiency Clinic (Item 34, Appendix, Exh. C, “Lewis Dep.,” pp. 42, 65). She was open about her HIV status with her co-workers as she received care herself at ECMC. Id., pp. 55-56. Ms. Walsh became plaintiffs supervisor approximately three to six months after she was hired. Id., p. 60.

In October 2002, plaintiff filed a charge with the New York State Division of Human Rights (“NYSDHR”). She complained that her Team Leader/Supervisor, Fred Marsehner, issued her an unwarranted counseling letter and harassed her by commenting on her HIV status and assigning her more work than other employees (Item 34, Appendix, Exh. K). A conciliation agreement was reached whereby plaintiff withdrew her charge and ECMC agreed to abide by all anti-discriminations laws, to adhere to its Harassment Policy and the collective bargaining agreement, and not to retaliate against the plaintiff (Item 34, Appendix, Exh. L).

Plaintiff acknowledged that many other employees in the Immunodeficiency Clinic complained about Ms. Walsh’s inappropriate behavior as a supervisor (Lewis Dep., p. 43, 44-45, 51). Plaintiff complained that she was reprimanded by Ms. Walsh, forced to attend meetings during her lunch break, given additional work tasks as punishment, criticized in the presence of co-workers, and given negative performance reviews (Lewis Dep., pp. 59, 87). However, plaintiff stated that she was never denied a right at work because she “always reached out for the protection that I supposedly had.” Id., p. 97.

Plaintiff asked that she be allowed to change her work schedule for medical appointments and to complete an internship (Lewis Dep., pp. 81-83). Ms. Walsh denied a request for leave for a medical appointment, but plaintiff complained to her union and the leave was granted. Id., p. 90. Plaintiff stated that she was never denied the right to attend a medical appointment. Id., p. 97. On another occasion, plaintiff presented a note from her medical provider, a physician’s assistant (“PA”) from a practice in Rochester, New York, which Ms. Walsh would not accept. Plaintiff complained to her union and to the Human Resources Department and the situation was rectified. Id., pp. 90-92. After plaintiff gave Ms. Walsh the note from the Rochester medical office, Ms. Walsh closed plaintiffs medical file at ECMC (Lewis Dep., p. 100). Plaintiff admitted that she closed the files of other patients when they left ECMC and acknowledged that it was not burdensome to reopen a file if the patient returned. Id. Plaintiff stated that she never asked that her file be reopened and continued to receive care in other departments at ECMC. Id., pp. 101-02. With regard to plaintiffs internship, e-mail correspondence between plaintiff and Katrina Karas Buchholtz, Director of Ambulatory Services at ECMC, indicate that plaintiffs internship supervisor adjusted his schedule so as to accommodate plaintiffs work schedule (Item 34, Appendix, Exh. W).

Plaintiff complained that Ms. Walsh referred to her as a “voodoo worker” in the presence of a large group of people at a luncheon meeting (Lewis Dep., pp. 66-67). [343]*343She also complained that Ms. Walsh suggested that she take a disability leave at times when plaintiff had taken time off for medical reasons. Id., p. 106.

Plaintiff stated that there were times that she took off of work without pay, but the amount of lost wages she is seeking is “insignificant” (Lewis Dep., p. 114). She is also seeking compensation for lost lunch hours when she was compelled to attend weekly luncheon meetings prior to grieving the issue in approximately 2006. Id., pp. 115-16. Plaintiff complained that, on one occasion, Ms. Walsh “chased” her down the hall to reprimand her. She was fearful and nervous about working with Ms. Walsh and was frightened that Ms. Walsh would harm someone in the department. Id., pp. 118-120.

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907 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2012 WL 5387361, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-erie-county-medical-center-corp-nywd-2012.