Edelman v. NYU Langone Health Sys.
| Decision Date | 28 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | 21 Civ. 502 (LGS) |
| Parties | DR. SARI EDELMAN, Plaintiff, v. NYU LANGONE HEALTH SYSTEM, ET AL., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Plaintiff Dr. Sari Edelman brings this employment discrimination action against NYU Langone Health System, NYU Langone Hospitals, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU Langone Nassau Rheumatology, NYU School of Medicine and NYU Hospitals Center (collectively “NYU”), and individuals Andrew T. Rubin, David Kaplan, Joseph Antonik and Joshua Swirnow (collectively, the “Individual Defendants”). Plaintiff alleges unequal pay in violation of the Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) and sex discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) and the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”). Defendants move for summary judgment on all of Plaintiff's claims. For the reasons below, Defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The following facts are drawn from the parties' Rule 56.1 statements and other submissions on this motion. The facts are undisputed or based on record evidence drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiff as the non-moving party. See N.Y. State Teamsters Conf. Pension & Ret Fund v. C & S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., 24 F.4th 163 170 (2d Cir. 2022).
Plaintiff is a licensed, board-certified physician specializing in rheumatology. Up to 2014, Plaintiff co-owned and operated a successful rheumatology practice for approximately six years with a partner, Dr. Kavini Mehta. In 2014, Plaintiff and Dr. Mehta were recruited to join NYU's Faculty Practice Group (“FGP”), where she was employed until 2021. NYU has grown its Ambulatory Care Practices of the FGP largely by hiring physicians out of private practice. Consistent with its usual practice, NYU negotiated the salaries of Plaintiff and Dr. Mehta, and NYU assumed the assets and debts of their practice, including its lease and loan obligations. Plaintiff was represented by counsel throughout these negotiations.
In general, NYU prepares a business plan based upon financial information supplied by each physician and her practice. NYU measures physician production in terms of work relative value units (“wRVUs”). wRVUs are the basic component of the methodology that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services use to assign a relative value to each medical procedure, patient visit and other clinical function.
NYU sets an initial wRVU target for each physician hired from private practice based on the wRVUs generated by that physician while in private practice. If a physician overperforms their wRVU target or underperforms outside of a certain margin, their salary will increase or decrease in direct proportion to their performance. Physician salaries are set based on factors in addition to the wRVU target, however, and do not necessarily correlate with wRVUs.
When Plaintiff first joined the FGP, NYU negotiated her salary and wRVU target based at least in part upon financial and productivity data about her former private practice. The decisionmakers concerning Plaintiff's salary were Andrew Rubin, Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs and Ambulatory Care for NYU Langone Health, and Joshua Swirnow, Vice President of Ambulatory Care at NYU Langone Health. Plaintiff was expected to expend all work-related effort on, and receive all compensation for, clinical functions. Plaintiff was employed as a Staff Physician and appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU, but she did not have any administrative title. Plaintiff's time and compensation remained dedicated 100% to clinical functions throughout her tenure at NYU.
Plaintiff worked in the same practice group, as a rheumatologist, under substantially the same conditions as Dr. Avram Goldberg, Dr. Andrew Porges and Dr. Anang Modi. In addition to his salary and wRVU target, Dr. Goldberg's contract provided him several benefits that Plaintiff's did not. Dr. Goldberg held the same academic appointment as Plaintiff, as well as the administrative title of Clinical Director, NYU Langone Nassau Rheumatology. Dr. Goldberg was to devote a prescribed portion of his work to his administrative role, for which he was separately compensated. Dr. Goldberg was the first rheumatologist hired for NYU's Ambulatory Care network on Long Island and was charged with growing NYU Langone's rheumatology practice. Dr. Goldberg recruited Plaintiff to NYU. When Dr. Goldberg's employment contract was renewed, his salary and wRVU target also increased. At all times, Dr. Goldberg's salary was higher than Plaintiff's, both in absolute terms and on a per-wRVU basis.
Dr. Porges has been a Board-certified rheumatologist since 1992 and was in private practice from 1993 until joining NYU in 2014. Dr. Porges's initial salary and wRVU target were set based on data about his private practice. Dr. Porges received several benefits other than his salary that Plaintiff did not. Dr. Porges initially was to devote all of his effort to, and receive all of his compensation for, clinical functions. When Dr. Porges's contract was renewed, his total salary remained the same, but some of his time and compensation were allocated to his new administrative role. When Dr. Porges's contract was renewed again, his clinical salary increased both in absolute terms and on a per-wRVU basis. At all times, Dr. Porges's salary was higher than Plaintiff's in absolute terms, and at most times it was higher on a per-wRVU basis as well.
Plaintiff's contract was renewed in 2017 for a three-year term. Her salary and wRVU target both increased. Dr. Modi was hired by NYU in May 2017. Dr. Modi's salary and wRVU target were set based on his employment in his prior position. At all times, Dr. Modi's salary was higher than Plaintiff's, both in absolute terms and on a per-wRVU basis.
At Plaintiff's first meeting with NYU management, Mr. Rubin and Mr. Swirnow expressed surprise that Plaintiff is a woman. When space at Marcus Avenue first became available, Dr. Porges and Dr. Lenore Brancato, a female rheumatologist, were the first to move into the space. Plaintiff and Dr. Mehta were told that they could not bring their own office furniture, medical equipment or personal items to the new space, but Dr. Porges had brought his belongings. Office-management practices from Dr. Porges's prior private practice were adopted while Plaintiff's were not. Plaintiff's requests for administrative assistance were delayed relative to requests made by her male colleagues. Plaintiff's suggestions about how to improve procedures were not taken seriously, but Dr. Porges's suggestions were adopted. Plaintiff consistently met or exceeded productivity goals and requirements and was never written up or reprimanded until late 2019.
In approximately 2017, Mr. Rubin and Mr. Swirnow met with Plaintiff about her purportedly deteriorating relationships with her colleagues. At that meeting, Mr. Rubin and Mr. Swirnow counseled Plaintiff that she should smile more at work. NYU renewed Plaintiff's contract in 2017.
On September 16, 2019, Joseph Antonik, Site Director of the Marcus Avenue office, approached Plaintiff about sharing her office on Thursdays and Fridays with a male doctor. Plaintiff did not use her office on Thursdays, and while she used her office on Fridays, her schedule showed that Fridays were “personal days.” Plaintiff objected to sharing her office, particularly on Fridays, and argued that her contract guaranteed her exclusive use of her office. Plaintiff's contract refers to “[s]pace provided to you,” for her employment. Shortly thereafter, Plaintiff locked her office to ensure others could not access it.
Limited office space at Marcus Avenue made office-sharing for physicians common, and it became more common in late 2019 when the rheumatology practice consolidated to a single suite. At or around that time, Dr. Porges shared his office with his wife; a female physician used Dr. Goldberg's on Tuesdays when Dr. Goldberg worked at another site; and another male doctor, Dr. William Given, occasionally shared his office on Fridays when he was offsite. Because the Marcus Avenue location did not have a dedicated lactation room, lactating employees were permitted to use any empty office, without regard to the sex or gender of its usual occupant. At least one employee used Plaintiff's office for that purpose when she was not occupying it.
During the meeting about sharing office space, Mr. Antonik waved his arms around making Plaintiff feel threatened, called Plaintiff a “bitch” and threatened to call the “powers that be” about the issue. On September 17, 2019, Plaintiff made a complaint about Mr. Antonik's behavior with Employee Labor Relations (“ELR”) Manager Kathleen Pacina, who made notes of the call.
On September 25, 2019, Plaintiff discussed the office-space issue with David Kaplan, to whom Mr. Antonik reported. Mr. Kaplan apologized for Mr. Antonik's actions, but after Plaintiff again objected to sharing her office, Mr. Kaplan began speaking to her in a mocking tone, making inappropriate gestures and implying that she was being histrionic, though he did not explicitly mention Plaintiff's sex.
Following her discussion with Mr. Kaplan, Plaintiff emailed Ms. Pacina a further complaint, in which she specifically complained about the “male chauvinism” displayed in her discussions with both Mr. Antonik and Mr. Kaplan and objected to “being...
To continue reading
Request your trial