Minevich v. Spectrum Health-Meier Heart Center

1 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28595, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1787, 2014 WL 869186
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 6, 2014
DocketNo. 1:12-cv-1358
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 1 F. Supp. 3d 790 (Minevich v. Spectrum Health-Meier Heart Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minevich v. Spectrum Health-Meier Heart Center, 1 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28595, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1787, 2014 WL 869186 (W.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PAUL L. MALONEY, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 85.) In this case, Plaintiff Zoya Minevich, a Ukrainian woman, asserts that she was subject to discrimination and retaliation based on her national origin and gender while she was employed at Spectrum. In her complaint, Plaintiff alleges seven counts: gender discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation under Title VII; hostile work environment under Michigan’s ElliotU-Larsen Civil Rights Act; negligence; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and wrongful discharge. Defendants Spectrum Health-Meijer Heart Center1 (“Spectrum”), Dr. [795]*795Darryl Elmouchi, Anne Beekman, and Rick Green brought the instant motion for summary judgment. They allege that Plaintiffs state law claims are barred by a shortened statute of limitations and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her hostile work environment, discrimination, and retaliation claims.

Having reviewed the briefing and relevant legal authority, the Court finds the matter can be resolved without oral argument. See W.D. Mich. L.R. Civ. P. 7.2(d). For the following reasons, the Court will GRANT IN PART AND DENY IN PART the Defendants’ motion.

I. Background

Plaintiff Minevich was hired at Spectrum on November 30, 2009 as a cardiovascular technologist (CVT), assisting surgeons in surgical procedures. (ECF No. 117 at pg. 10.) During her employment, Plaintiff was the only female CVT. (Id. at II.) Plaintiff worked with three preceptors, or trainers, who were more experienced CVTs: Girum Melka, Derek Bullen, and Matt Jackson. (Id.) Plaintiff worked with multiple surgeons, including Dr. El-mouchi, one of the defendants here. (Id.) Plaintiffs supervisor was Defendant Anne Beekman. (ECF No. 98 at pg. 8.) The human resources department included Defendant Rick Green.

Plaintiffs performance and treatment during the 26 months she was an employee at Spectrum is subject to much debate by the parties. Defendants characterize Plaintiff as inept, slow to learn, and hazardous to patient safety, while Plaintiff claims that the incidents calling her competency into question were largely unsubstantiated and arose only after she began complaining about racial and gender harassment. Each party’s version of the facts is presented below.

Defendants assert that Plaintiff failed to learn the skills necessary for the CVT job, even after an extended training time. (ECF No. 98 at 9-10.) They claim that Plaintiff was unable to work independently during heart surgeries to operate the simulator, take measurements of EKG intervals, operate the V-Tech equipment, or operate the defibrillator. (Id. at 10.) Defendants also claim that Plaintiff did not maintain the sterile technique required in surgery rooms, once opening a bag of sterile instruments with her teeth. (Id. at 11.) In July 2010, Defendant Beekman issued a “Corrective Action Second Written Warning” (ECF No. 89-4) to Minevich after two patients contracted infections. Both patients had undergone surgeries at which Minevich was responsible for keeping the area sterile, but Minevich could not be definitively proven as the cause of the infections. (ECF No. 98 at 11.) Minevich contested the warning, complaining that, inter alia, the hospital’s suspicion that she caused the infections was retaliation for her prior complaints about Elmouchi yelling at her during surgeries. (Id.; ECF No. 89-5.) Defendant and HR employee Rick Green investigated this claim, but could not substantiate the allegation. (ECF No. 90-1.) In October 2011, Mine-vich was involved in an altercation with a nurse, Jody Hunt, that was witnessed by Kim Umlor, another RN. (ECF No. 98 at 11.) After the altercation was reported to Defendant Beekman, both Minevich and Hunt were disciplined. (Id.; ECF No. 21) Defendants claim that immediately after that, Plaintiff falsely reported that Umlor was drunk on the job. (ECF No. 98 at 11.)

Defendants claim that Minevich continued to exhibit substandard performance, routinely making mistakes, causing problems for others on her teams, and endangering patient safety. (Id. at 12; ECF Nos. 92-1, 92-2.) Finally, on December 5, 2011, the director of the Frederick Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute, Patricia Vil-[796]*796lemure, composed a memo stating that Minevich had to be terminated due to her inability to perform the job satisfactorily. (ECF No. 91-3.) Accordingly, Beekman put Minevich on “Decision Making Leave” on December 15 for three days. (ECF No. 91-5). When Plaintiff returned to work on December 19, 2011, Beekman created a “Return to Work Agreement” and a “Performance Enhancement Plan” (PEP). (Id.) Under the PEP, Minevich had varying amounts of time to master the basic skills of a CVT, and she was to be reviewed periodically for progress. (Id.)

On January 19, 2012, Plaintiff filed a formal complaint alleging that she had been subject to discrimination based on gender and race. In her complaint, she listed a number of incidents implicating seven of her coworkers. (ECF No. 93-2.) Concerning her nationality, Plaintiff alleged that other CVTs called her “Natasha” after the character on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, started a rumor that she was a “mail order bride,” and made fun of her accent. (Id.) Plaintiff reported that Elmouchi yelled at her during a procedure, and Beekman suggested that she was the only one treated harshly because she was the only woman. (Id.) Plaintiff also reported that her coworkers engaged in a number of sexual jokes and double enten-dres, such as naming a piece of tubing after porn star John Holmes, taking about giving their wives “pearl necklaces,” joking about the pronunciation of the name Koch-Remage, comparing Minevich’s breasts to a woman in a lab training video, and asking Minevich if she wanted to see another CVTs penis piercing. (Id.) Placing her termination on hold, Spectrum began an investigation into Plaintiffs harassment allegations. However, no evidence of harassment or discrimination was uncovered. (ECF No. 93-5; ECF No. 98 at 14.) Finally, on February 2, 2012, Minevich’s employment was terminated. The termination notice stated that Minevich could not demonstrate “the ability to perform the expectations of [her] position at a satisfactory level.” (ECF No. 94-4.)

Plaintiff presents a very different picture of her employment at Spectrum. Overall, she alleges that the complaints about her performance were brought by her harassers, in retaliation for her complaints against them. Plaintiff alleges that she began complaining to management about the abusive work environment around March 2010. She filed a formal complaint against Elmouchi on June 4, 2010. (ECF No. 127-1 at pg. 5-6.) Around July 2010, Minevich was blamed and disciplined after two patients were infected during surgical procedures. Plaintiff claims that many CVTs and nurses did a substandard job at cleaning the surgical rooms, and that there was no proof that Plaintiff was the cause of the infections. (ECF No. 117 at pg. 13.) Discovery in this case revealed that another employee was also present at both procedures and could have caused the infections-the attending doctor. (ECF No. 123^1.) Further, she alleges that all of the information against her came from her harassers, and an inadequate investigation was done. (Id.)

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1 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28595, 121 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1787, 2014 WL 869186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minevich-v-spectrum-health-meier-heart-center-miwd-2014.