Connors v. Dartmouth Hitchcock Med. Ctr., Case No. 2:10-cv-94
| Decision Date | 11 July 2013 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:12-cv-51,Case No. 2:10-cv-94 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Vermont |
| Parties | JENNIFER A. CONNORS, Plaintiff, v. DARTMOUTH HITCHCOCK MEDICAL CENTER, DARTMOUTH MEDICAL SCHOOL, MARY HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK CLINIC and TRUSTEES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Defendants. |
In this action arising from the dismissal of Plaintiff Dr. Jennifer Connors from the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center's ("DHMC") graduate residency program in psychiatry, the Defendants have moved for summary judgment on her remaining claims of disability discrimination and illegal retaliation under the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act ("VFEPA"), and her claims of breach of contract and breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The motion, ECF No. 122, is granted in part and denied in part. Summary judgment is granted on all counts of both complaints with respect to Defendants Dartmouth Medical School ("Medical School"), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic ("Clinic") and Trustees of Dartmouth College ("Trustees"). The claims for noneconomic damages under VFEPA are dismissed. Summary judgment is granted in part and denied in part withrespect to the remaining claims against Defendants DHMC and Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital ("MHMH"), as set forth below.
This Court has previously issued Findings of Fact in connection with two issues tried to the Court on February 3, 2012. See Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law, ECF No. 105. The following material facts with respect to the pending motion for summary judgment constitute the law of the case, or are undisputed, or have been taken in the light most favorable to Dr. Connors as the non-moving party.
Dr. Connors graduated from medical school in 2003. She completed a pediatric residency at the University of Utah Medical School in 2006. In July 2005 Dr. Connors submitted an "application for residency training in the Department of Psychiatry at [DHMC]" to Dr. Ronald Green, at the time the psychiatry residency program director. DHMC is a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of New Hampshire, with its principal place of business in New Hampshire.1
In response to her application, Dr. Green on behalf of DHMC extended an offer to Dr. Connors to join the program "as a PGY2 2resident in psychiatry to begin on June 26, 2006." Green letter, ECF No. 122, Ex. C. Dr. Green advised Dr. Connors that her "stipend as a PGY 2 resident will be $45,350.00. Id. Dr. Connors accepted the offer in November 2005.
In April 2006 Dr. Connors and Defendant MHMH, the teaching hospital for DHMC, entered into a Resident/Fellow Agreement of Appointment for graduate training as a psychiatry resident from June 26, 2006, through June 25, 2007. The expected duration of her training was three years.
According to her Second Amended Complaint ("SAC") in docket no. 2:10-cv-94-wks, at the time of her initial appointment Dr. Connors advised DHMC that she has a learning disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"). She requested reasonable accommodation for her condition, and DHMC agreed to provide reasonable accommodation. SAC ¶¶ 17-18, ECF No. 50. Specifically, Dr. Connors requested and received extra time for testing, a quiet place to work and access to a psychiatrist.
Dr. Connors entered DHMC's residency program in psychiatry in June 2006. Early evaluations of her progress were generally positive, although Dr. Green noted problems with completing paperwork, conflicts with staff and chronic lateness, in all of which he noted improvement or commitment to improvement. Green Memo. Oct. 16, 2006, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 14, ECF No. 129-15.
In early 2007, Dr. Connors was assigned to an inpatientpsychiatry rotation at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center ("VAMC") in White River Junction, Vermont, one of the psychiatry residency program's affiliated sites. Dr. Connors avers that Defendants failed to make reasonable accommodations for her disability during that winter, among other things that her VAMC supervisor ordered her not to leave the VAMC campus in order to acquire medication or undergo any therapy. As a result, she states, her symptoms emerged, including difficulty organizing her time and assignments, distractability, diminished listening skills, difficulty with time management and difficulty starting and prioritizing tasks. Connors Aff., Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 4, ECF No. 129-5.
Beginning in March 2007, Dr. Connors was placed on administrative leave as a result of DHMC's concerns regarding her performance as a psychiatry resident. She returned to the program in September 2007, having agreed to a remediation plan that included regular clinical supervision and a faculty mentor. Dr. Connors was responsible for, among other things, being on time, not being argumentative in supervision, following documentation rules, performing physical examinations on patients when required to do so, and not signing off on physical examinations that she had not conducted. DHMC Remediation Plan, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 16, ECF No. 129-17. She was accorded release from clinical duties one afternoon per week to meet withher health care providers. Id.
Dr. Connors and MHMH entered into a second Resident/Fellow Agreement of Appointment for her graduate training as a resident in psychiatry at the PGY-2 level from September 17, 2007, to January 6, 2008 with a stipend of $47,410. Dr. Connors completed her remedial program and her PGY-2 year successfully at another DHMC affiliate, New Hampshire Hospital, in a "very structured and highly supervised inpatient rotation". Green Letter Jan. 1, 2008, Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. R, ECF No. 122-19. Nevertheless, Dr. Green sought advice about not renewing her contract, feeling that Dr. Connors had created enmity among the other residents and believing that her difficulties were caused by irresponsibility, not illness. Green Email Nov. 20, 2007, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 18, ECF No. 129-19.
Despite Dr. Green's concerns, Dr. Connors and MHMH entered into a Resident/Fellow Agreement of Appointment for her PGY-3 year from January 7, 2008 to January 6, 2009 with a stipend of $50,070. The 2008 Agreement states that Dr. Connors would be notified in writing if "renewal of this Agreement for a subsequent year of residency/fellowship will not be made." Feb. 3, 2012 Hearing, Defs.' Ex. C. All of her appointments stated that reappointment would be "dependent upon satisfactory evaluations and fulfillment of program and institutional requirements." Id.; see also id., Defs.' Ex. A, B.
For her PGY-3 year, Dr. Connors was again assigned to the VAMC, and Dr. Green warned that should a "pattern of irresponsible behavior" recur she would not be able to continue her training. Green Memo. Dec. 21, 2007, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 21, ECF No.22. Dr. Connors avers that for four months in 2008 DHMC failed to reasonably accommodate her disability, in that while at the VAMC she "endured random facilities, including use of a common computer room with coffee machine for all staff to use." Connors Aff., Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 4. She received her own office at VAMC in May 2008.
In March 2008 Dr. Connors was meeting the program's clinical and administrative expectations. Green Evaluation Mar. 6, 2008, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 28, ECF No. 129-29. For example, during the first half of 2008 Dr. Connors received average or above average ratings in an evaluation of her psychopharmacology clinic training. Green Evaluation July 27, 2008, Pl.'s Opp'n Memo. Ex. 27, ECF No. 129-28.
On November 20, 2008, Dr. Green and Dr. Watts, the associate director of the psychiatry residency program, met with Dr. Connors to discuss the concerns of several of her clinical supervisors at VAMC about her behavior and judgment. The concerns included: forgetting to call a social service agency to report a child endangerment situation; misdiagnosing a patient and failing to discuss the diagnosis during supervision;disputing her supervisors' recommendations; lack of receptiveness to feedback; lateness submitting clinical notes; and unusual patient interactions, including an incident with a patient in which Dr. Connors began playing cards during a therapy session. VAMC faculty were concerned that emotional or mental illness might be causing her erratic behavior, and Dr. Connors agreed to undergo a fitness for duty evaluation conducted by DHMC's Employee Health Division. The evaluation revealed no ill health. The director for psychiatric training at VAMC however informed Dr. Green in December 2008 that the VAMC was unwilling for Dr. Connors to continue her training there. Green Note Jan. 2, 2009, Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. S, ECF No. 122-20.
At a meeting on January 28, 2009, Dr. Green gave Dr. Connors a letter, advising her that, although she would be allowed to finish her current rotation to enable her to enter a fourth year of training elsewhere, she was dismissed from the program. The letter referenced her having successfully passed a four month remediation period, but stated that she had two subsequent periods of "irresponsible and unprofessional behavior" as detailed in the November 2008 meeting and documented in her file. Dr. Connors read the letter and confirmed with Dr. Green that he was dismissing her from the program. Connors Dep. 52:1-4, Nov. 3, 2010, ECF No. 57-11. Dr. Connors' last day in the program was April 12, 2009. Opp'n to Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. 1 at 5,ECF No. 64-2.
At the January 28, 2009, meeting, Dr. Green provided Dr. Connors with a copy of the Graduate Medical Education ("GME") Fair Hearing Policy. According to the Policy, its purpose is to set forth procedures to "assure due process to Residents who . . . are recommended for non-renewal or dismissal from a program . . . ." GME Fair Hearing Policy at I, Feb. 3, 2012 Hearing, Pl.'s Ex. 1. Policy procedures include notification "in writing of the documented deficiencies or allegations and of the...
To continue reading
Request your trial