Whyte v. Nassau Health Care Corp.

969 F. Supp. 2d 248, 2013 WL 4525725, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121953
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedAugust 27, 2013
DocketNo. 08-CV-2399 (DRH)(GRB)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 969 F. Supp. 2d 248 (Whyte v. Nassau Health Care Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whyte v. Nassau Health Care Corp., 969 F. Supp. 2d 248, 2013 WL 4525725, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121953 (E.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HURLEY, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Carol Whyte (“Whyte” or “plaintiff’) commenced this action against defendants Nassau Health Care Corporation (“NHCC”) and Rita Bernhardt (“Bernhardt”) (collectively “defendants”) asserting claims of race-based and national-origin-based discrimination and retaliatory employment practices in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e (Title VII), 42 U.S.C. § 1981, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and New York’s Human Rights Law, Executive Law § 296. (Sec. Am. Compl. ¶ 1, as Defs.’ Ex. A). Presently before the Court is defendants’ motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 (“Rule 56”). For the reasons set forth below, the defendants’ motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

The following facts, drawn from the parties’ local Rule 56.1 statements, the pleadings, and prior decisions in this case, are undisputed unless otherwise noted.

Procedural History

In an Order dated June 13, 2008, this Court, adopting Magistrate Judge Orenstein’s Report and Recommendation in its entirety, granted defendants’ motion pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 to sever into separate actions the claims of seven plaintiffs, including Leacock, each of whom claimed that defendants had discriminated against him or her based on race. (See 06-CV-4757, Docket No. 64 (Memorandum and Order, dated June 13, 2008)). In the same opinion, the Court also dismissed plaintiffs’ Title VI claims in their entirety and their Title VII claims against all of the individual defendants, including defendant Bernhardt. (Id. at 14-15.)

Plaintiffs Employment at NUMC

Plaintiff, a black woman of Jamaican National Origin, “began working in the position of Medical Technologist I in the hematology Department of the Laboratory [at Nassau University Medical Center (“NUMC”) ] on or about May 19, 2003.” (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 7; Sec. Am. Compl. ¶ 40.) Medical Technologist I is a “competitive position and Ms. Whyte took a Civil Service examination in order to qualify for the position.” (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 7.)"

While defendants contend that Whyte had no hematology experience prior to her hiring by NHCC, they do concede that “from 1996-1998, [plaintiff] worked at the New York City clinical lab where she took urine samples and did alcohol testing on sanitation workers.” (Id. ¶ 11.) Whyte asserts that her work at the New York City clinical lab constituted “hematology and urinalysis experience,” and that “the only experience she did not have was in chemistry.” (Pl.’s R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 11.)

At the start of her employment, Whyte “was subject to a 26-week probationary period, to conclude on November 16, 2003 ... imposed by the Nassau County Civil Service Commission, pursuant to the New York State Civil Service Law, to ensure [251]*251that the conduct, capacity, and fitness of the individual hired for the position was satisfactory.” (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 8.) In addition, “[s]o that the probationary employees [could] have sufficient feedback during the ... period, they [were] provided a two-month and four-month review.” (Id. ¶ 26.) During the probationary period, “new employees like Whyte were rotated through the different areas in which they would be working, i.e., Coagulation, Urinalysis, CBC, and slide areas.” (Id. ¶ 21.) Whyte, like other Medical Technologists, “started on the day shift” and “in the coagulation and urinalysis areas since they were easier than the other areas and had less need for use of the department computer.” (Id. ¶ 22.)

Defendant Bernhardt was Whyte’s “direct supervisor in the hematology lab.” (Id. ¶ 10.) “She supervised the day shift from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and [had] some responsibilities for the evening shift, 4:00 p.m. to 12 midnight. Her duties includefd] quality control, quality assurance and reviewing the Medical Technician’s work in the Hematology Lab.” (Id. ¶ 6.)

In addition to Bernhardt, Kathleen Martinez-Walsh, a Medical Technician III, supervised both the hematology and chemical laboratories at NUMC. (Id. ¶ 9.) “Martinez-Walsh gave plaintiff her two-month review in or about July 21, 2003,” finding that Whyte “[did] not meet standards in terms of knowledge, skills and abilities when performing technical work in the field,” had “little if any knowledge in the coagulation and urinalysis areas,” was “slow to catch on” and “repeatedly [had to] be shown the same procedures.” (Id. ¶ 27.) Though plaintiff claims that she improved after four months, Martinez-Walsh concluded in her four-month review that plaintiff still did not meet the standard for Medical Technologist I. (Pl.’s R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 30; Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 30.) As a result, Martinez-Walsh asked Bernhardt to monitor Whyte’s work closely. (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 31.) In addition, “Martinez-Walsh also directed Ms. Bernhardt to develop a test for Ms. WKyte,” the purpose of which is disputed. (Id. ¶ 32.) While defendants claim that the purpose of the test “was to determine whether [plaintiff] had the basic knowledge and skills regarding hematology or whether she was having trouble operating the machine in the laboratory,” (id. ¶ 32), plaintiff states that the point of the test “was to humiliate Plaintiff and to force her not to pass her probationary period.” (Pl.’s R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 32.) In any event, according to defendants, the test results made it “clear to Martinez-Walsh that [plaintiff] did not have the most basic knowledge required for the position of Medical Technologist I.” (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 32.)

In general, plaintiff does not dispute that defendant “Bernhardt reviewed Whyte’s work in coagulation and found multiple errors including incorrect commenting and incorrect running of specimens,” (id. ¶ 24), but she claims that Bernhardt “screamed at her and belittled her in front of other employees” because of these mistakes. (Pl.’s R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 24.) For example, Whyte admits that about four months into the probationary period there was an incident where “she used the wrong reagent to test the specimen” and “made a mistake in running the test.” (Defs.’ R. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 39.) Bernhardt admits “to yelling at Whyte on this occasion because Whyte released improper results from the lab to a doctor and the doctor may have been relying on it to the patient’s detriment.” (Id.) On a separate occasion, “Whyte challenged the [department’s] finding that she had made the same mistake twice in the same day,” and “when confronted with the computer print [252]*252out showing the mistake the second time,” Whyte suggested that “someone else must have signed into the computer under her name and made the same mistake.” (Id. ¶ 41.)

“Toward the end of her probationary period, Ms. Whyte was rotated into the chemistry department in the laboratory under the direct supervision of Lisa Crispino.” (Id. ¶ 33.) Ms. Crispino completed an evaluation of plaintiff and “also found Ms. Whyte’s performance unsatisfactory,” (id.

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Bluebook (online)
969 F. Supp. 2d 248, 2013 WL 4525725, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121953, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whyte-v-nassau-health-care-corp-nyed-2013.