Ellis v. Morehouse School of Medicine

• Decision Date: 22 January 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 1:93-CV-2886-FMH.
• Citation: 925 F. Supp. 1529
• Parties: Garey V. ELLIS, Plaintiff, v. MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

925 F. Supp. 1529

Garey V. ELLIS, Plaintiff, v. MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 1:93-CV-2886-FMH.

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

January 22, 1996.

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Donald W. Singleton, Dudley & Singleton, Atlanta, Georgia, for Plaintiff.

David L. Balser, Lawrence Albert Slovensky, Sheryl L. Thompson, Long, Aldridge & Norman, Atlanta, Georgia, for Defendant.

ORDER

HULL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Garey V. Ellis ("Ellis") brings this disability discrimination claim against Defendant Morehouse School of Medicine ("Morehouse") under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This matter is before the Court on Morehouse's Motion for Summary Judgment 60-1 and Ellis's Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint 58-1.

I. FACTS

A. Ellis's First Two Years Of Medical School

The Morehouse School of Medicine is a private medical school located in Atlanta, Georgia. Ellis enrolled at Morehouse in the Summer of 1988. Shortly after arriving, Ellis began having difficulties with the coursework. On August 18, 1988, Morehouse gave Ellis an academic warning based upon his poor performance in the summer component of the first year curriculum.

After receiving his first academic warning, Ellis petitioned Morehouse to allow him to enter the decelerated first year medical curriculum. The decelerated first-year medical curriculum is a program which allows students to take the first year of medical school over the span of two years. In his deposition, Ellis stated that he petitioned to be placed in the decelerated program because he believed he had dyslexia. Ellis's request was initially denied and Ellis was instructed to obtain a diagnostic evaluation supporting his claim that he suffered from dyslexia.

On November 29, 1988, in connection with Ellis's request for placement in the decelerated program, Dr. Angela Franklin, a licensed clinical psychologist at Morehouse, evaluated Ellis for potential learning disabilities. Dr. Franklin issued a report of her findings which included, but were not limited to the following:

Ellis's performance test scores reflect marked deficits in visual-motor coordination and visual perception of abstract stimuli (e.g. designs and symbols). His performance on other measures also reflect visual/spatial organization and difficulties as evidenced by number/letter reversals....

In addition, because of reading difficulties, he may need to tape lectures and/or study in a group so that he can hear the material to be learned. Investing in taped books might also be an alternative. Other strategies might be acquired if he begins working with a private tutoring agency (such as Math Set) that works directly with reading disabilities.

Franklin deposition, at 6-7 & Exh. 1.

On January 9, 1989, as a result of Dr. Franklin's report, Morehouse informed Ellis that it did not have the facilities or resources to address Ellis's deficiencies, and encouraged Ellis to seek an appropriate facility to obtain remediation of his reading and learning problems. Morehouse also informed Ellis that he would be permitted to enter the decelerated first-year medical curriculum; that he would be permitted to receive double-time to complete his examinations; and that he had been placed on academic probationary status. Ellis passed all of the courses he took during the 1988-89 academic year.

On June 13, 1989, Morehouse informed Ellis that he would be permitted to continue in the decelerated first-year curriculum; that he would remain on academic probation for the 1989-90 academic year; and that the provision made for additional time to complete examinations had expired. On September 25, 1989, Ellis wrote a letter to the Morehouse Student Academic Progress and Promotions Committee ("SAPP") requesting that he be allowed to continue to have additional time during his scheduled major course examinations. On October 3, 1989, Morehouse reinstated the "double-time privilege" to Ellis. On October 24, 1989, Dr. Franklin, also Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, sent a memorandum to all first-year course directors informing them that the SAPP committee had approved the reinstatement of the double-time privilege to Ellis and that he had been granted the option to take double the usual time on all examinations. The double-time privilege extended to Ellis by Morehouse never was revoked.

On November 14, 1989, Morehouse provided Ellis with a second academic warning based upon his performance in Gross Anatomy. On April 9, 1990, Dr. Franklin wrote Ellis a letter informing him that the SAPP Committee also was concerned about the difficulties he was having in Neurobiology.

The first two years of medical school consist of traditional classroom work in which professors lecture to students and students are evaluated by their performance on written examinations. Although it took Ellis three calendar years to complete his first two academic years, and Ellis had received two academic warnings and had been placed on academic probation, Ellis passed all of his courses during his first two years of medical school.

Additionally, Plaintiff exhibited questionable professional behavior in his first two years. On November 28, 1989, Morehouse placed Ellis on probation for deficiencies in professional behavior. In his letter to Ellis explaining Morehouse's decision, the Dean stated:

Following our conversation of November 22, 1989, regarding the student yearbook, Dr. Angela Franklin and I have reviewed the issue. We are both very concerned with the lack of good judgment which you employed in the matter, particularly, your unauthorized use of the School's postage system. You collected official envelopes from several different departments and then placed their envelopes, containing letters requesting funds payable to you, in the institutional mail slot, in order to avoid paying postage. This behavior is not consistent with that expected of medical students.

Ellis deposition, Exh. 17.

B. Ellis's Junior And Senior Years

Unlike the first two years, the third and fourth years of medical school consist of clinical rotations in which students are trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients. Medical students spend their time in their junior and senior years "in the clinics" receiving clinical training and treating real patients.

1. Third-Year Medicine

Morehouse students are required to take Medicine during their third year. Dr. Myra Rose is the interim chair of the Department of Medicine for Morehouse, has been the Clerkship Director for Medicine at Morehouse since the Medicine clerkship program was started at Morehouse, and was Course Director for Ellis's third-year clerkship in Medicine. As Course Director for the third-year clerkship in Medicine, Dr. Rose had the ultimate responsibility for assigning the grade for the third-year clerkship in Medicine. Ellis complains that Dr. Rose never was informed that Ellis had a disability during his first two years of medical school and was given double-time to take written examinations. Ellis also claims that Morehouse never discussed with Dr. Rose or with Ellis the possibility that additional accommodations be made for Ellis during his third-year Medicine rotation.

In Dr. Rose's opinion, Ellis was not able to meet the requirements of Morehouse's third-year clerkship in Medicine; therefore, Plaintiff received a "D" in his third year clerkship in Medicine. In her written evaluation of Ellis's performance in the third-year clerkship in Medicine, Dr. Rose stated:

Mr. Ellis' sic fund of knowledge was very poor. Although eager to participate and care for patients, he demonstrated only a minimal amount of knowledge related to the patient's problems. He could identify major problems but had problems making a reasonable differential diagnosis. He understood the basic battery of initial tests and their interpretation but had difficulty proceeding further. He did not really seem to understand the components of clinical evaluation once beyond the history, physical examination, and basic problem list. History and physical examination skills were slightly below the norm for his class. He lacked an organized systematic approach to both the history and the physical examination. Oral presentations were organized but tended to be verbose. Written skills contained the basic information but lacked detailed analysis.... In the estimation of the faculty, Mr. Ellis earned a "D" for this clerkship.

Rose deposition, Exh. 4.

Ellis claims that, during his third-year Medicine clerkship, he was instructed by two attending physicians and had limited contact with Dr. Rose. Ellis's attendings were Drs. Crawford and Clayton. Ellis claims that he received a "D" in Medicine despite receiving passing scores from his attendings, and passing his national mini-board exam. In his deposition, Dr. Crawford allegedly could not explain this discrepancy, and reportedly testified that he never encountered such a situation.¹ Ellis also claims that Dr. Rose denied Ellis the reasonable accommodation of allowing Ellis additional time to take his national mini-board exam.

On June 8, 1992, Morehouse informed Ellis that he had been placed on academic probation for receiving a final grade of "D" in Medicine. A student who receives a failing grade while on academic probation is eligible for dismissal.

2. Fourth-Year Surgery

Fourth year students and Morehouse are required to take Surgery. In August, 1992, Dr. Linwood G. Koger, III served as the Course Director for the fourth-year Surgery course at Morehouse. Dr. Koger's responsibilities as Course Director for Surgery included supervising the clinical education of approximately six to eight Morehouse students, evaluating the performance of those students; and meeting with his colleagues in the Surgery Department to assign a final grade for each of those...