Geldzahler v. N.Y. Med. Coll.

• Decision Date: 30 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09 Civ. 1791(JLC).,09 Civ. 1791(JLC).
• Citation: 746 F.Supp.2d 618
• Parties: Gerald GELDZAHLER, Plaintiff,v.NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE, Dr. Joseph Morales, and Dr. Jay P. Goldsmith, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

746 F.Supp.2d 618

Gerald GELDZAHLER, Plaintiff,

v.NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE, Dr. Joseph Morales, and Dr. Jay P. Goldsmith, Defendants.

No. 09 Civ. 1791(JLC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

Sept. 30, 2010.

Gerald Geldzahler, Livingston, NJ, pro se.Barbara E. Hoey, Littler Mendelson, P.C., Christopher John Collins, Kevin James Smith, Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES L. COTT, United States Magistrate Judge.I. INTRODUCTION

Pro se plaintiff Dr. Gerald Geldzahler (“Plaintiff” or “Dr. Geldzahler”) brings this action against New York Medical College (“NYMC”), Dr. Joseph Morales, and Dr. Jay P. Goldsmith (collectively, “Defendants”) (Doc. No. 1). This Court has diversity jurisdiction over the subject matter of this case. Complaint at Section II (Doc. No. 1); Answer at ¶ 3 (Doc. No. 21), After the parties consented to a magistrate judge conducting all proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) (Doc. No. 14), Magistrate Judge Peck granted Defendants' motion to dismiss as to Dr. Geldzahler's breach of contract and wrongful discharge claims but denied it as to his claims under New York Labor Law §§ 740 and 741 in a published decision, familiarity with which is assumed. Geldzahler v. New York Med. Coll., 663 F.Supp.2d 379 (S.D.N.Y.2009). This case was reassigned to me on March 12, 2010 (Doc. No. 35), and before this Court is Defendants' motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Doc. No. 31).

For the reasons discussed below, summary judgment is appropriate on both Dr. Geldzahler's Section 740 and Section 741 claims. The Section 740 claims are time-barred to the extent they are based on his April, 2007 termination as NYMC Program Director, and he does not fit the statutory definition of an “employee” with respect to his claim related to the non-renewal of his NYMC faculty appointment.

As for Dr. Geldzahler's Section 741 claims, they should be dismissed as to Dr. Goldsmith because Dr. Geldzahler was not an “employee” at the time his faculty position was not renewed, as required by the statute. Moreover, they should be dismissed as to Dr. Morales because he was not an “employer” as defined in Section 741, and thus there is no individual liability. Finally, summary judgment should be granted to NYMC because there are no disputed facts as to NYMC's defense that it terminated Plaintiff as Program Director and did not renew his faculty appointment for reasons other than his alleged whistleblowing.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The facts that are undisputed or, where disputed and supported by competent evidence, taken in a manner most favorable to Dr. Geldzahler, are as follows. ¹

NYMC is a private health science university that has been chartered by the Regents of the State of New York. Local Civil Rule 56.1 Statement (“56.1 Statement”) ¶ 6, Ex D (Declaration of Joseph Morales dated February 8, 2010 (“Morales Decl”), ¶ 3). NYMC has a Department of Dental Medicine and, accordingly, has been accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (“CODA”) of the American Dental Association (“ADA”). Id. As part of the educational training for NYMC residents, NYMC has affiliation contract arrangements with Metropolitan Hospital Center (“MET”) and Westchester Medical Center (“WMC”) that allow NYMC residents to work at both facilities. Id. ¶ 2. One of the educational residency programs offered by NYMC is the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (“OMS”) residency program, which has a Program Director and Site Directors at MET and WMC. Id. ¶¶ 4–5. OMS residents work in both the Dental Clinic and the Operating Room at MET. Id. ¶ 2.

The Dental Clinic at MET is regulated by the New York State Department of Health. 56.1 Statement ¶ 10. The Department of Health issues operating licenses to hospital facilities, including MET, and sets standards of patient care and safety. 56.1 Statement ¶ 18, Ex. G.; N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805 (McKinney 2010).

The OMS residency program must comply with the Accreditation Standards for Advanced Specialty Education Programs in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery issued by CODA (“CODA Standards”). 56.1 Statement ¶ 16, Ex. B (Geldzahler Dep. at 25:5–25:16; 31:7–33:6). Neither CODA nor the ADA are government agencies, although CODA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a national accrediting body for dental and dental-related education programs conducted at the post-secondary level. 56.1 Statement ¶ 14, Ex, H (CODA Introduction, http:// ada. org/ prof/ ed/ accred/ commission/ index. asp); see also American Dental Association—Commission on Dental Accreditation, http:// www. ada. org/ 117. aspx (last visited Sept. 29, 2010). Limited permits, which are issued to first-year OMS residents and sometimes to more senior residents, are regulated by the New York Department of Education. N.Y. Educ. Law § 6605; N.Y. Comp. of Codes, R. and Regs. tit. 8 § 61.3; 56.1 Response,² Ex. 1 (Morales Dep. at 173:8–174:8, 175:10–175:16).

Dr. Joseph Morales is Chairman of NYMC's Department of Dental Medicine. 56.1 Statement ¶ 7, Ex. D (Morales Decl. ¶ 1). One of his responsibilities is to ensure the proper training and education of residents in the OMS residency program. Id. He is also Chief of the Dental Service at MET. 56.1 Statement ¶ 7, Ex. D (Morales Decl. ¶ 2).

In 2001, Dr. Morales recommended that NYMC hire Dr. Geldzahler to be the Program Director of the OMS residency program. 56.1 Statement ¶ 1, Ex. D (Morales Decl. ¶ 8). Dr. Geldzahler started at his position in June of that year, and his supervisor was Dr. Morales. Id., Ex. C; Geldzahler Decl. ¶ 12. Dr. Geldzahler's responsibilities as Program Director included formulating and executing a comprehensive didactic curriculum, setting goals and objectives for the program, maintaining program and resident statistics, maintaining an ongoing and systematic outcome assessment program, and other administrative functions. 56.1 Statement, Ex. B (Geldzahler Dep. at 35:22–36:19). He also practiced dental medicine at MET and WMC; as part of this role, he acted as an attending to supervise residents when they performed dental procedures. Id. (Geldzahler Dep. at 68:20–69:4.)

Over the years, Dr. Geldzahler and Dr. Morales had many disagreements about the OMS residency program. Dr. Geldzahler testified that, starting in 2001, he and Dr. Morales disagreed over whether first-year residents should be in the Operating Room. 56.1 Statement, Ex. B (Geldzahler Dep. at 81:12–82:16). And while Dr. Geldzahler wished to spend more of his time working at WMC, Dr. Morales wanted him to spend at least two days per week at MET. 56.1 Statement ¶ 40, Ex. D (Morales Decl. ¶ 12). In March 2005, Dr. Geldzahler requested a redistribution of his 35–hour–a–week commitment to NYMC so that he would spend 30 hours at WMC and five hours at MET every week instead of 25 hours at WMC and 10 hours at MET every week. 56.1 Statement ¶¶ 40–41, Exs. J & K; 56.1 Response, Ex. 2 (Geldzahler Dep. at 109:9–109:25). Dr. Geldzahler believed that he was needed more at WMC for the benefit of the residency program and wanted to balance his personal and professional life. 56.1 Statement, Ex. J. He also believed that the OMS residency program was understaffed when it came to attendings at MET, that he was already working too many hours, and that NYMC needed to recruit additional attendings. 56.1 Statement, Ex. K. Dr. Morales believed it was in the best interests of MET, the residency program, and the Department of Dental Medicine to deny this request. 56.1 Statement ¶ 42, Ex. D (Morales Decl. ¶ 12). Dr. Morales had asked Dr. Geldzahler on more than one occasion to spend at least two days a week at MET rather than just one day a week. Id.

Shortly thereafter, Dr. Geldzahler and Dr. Morales had a dispute regarding disciplinary actions taken by Dr. Geldzahler against two residents in March and April 2005; they strongly disagreed regarding the procedures used by Dr. Geldzahler to determine the disciplinary action and the actual discipline that he meted out. 56.1 Statement ¶ 43, Ex. L.

Dr. Geldzahler asserts that a major point of contention he had with Dr. Morales concerned the improper supervision of OMS residents at MET. Dr. Geldzahler testified that while he was OMS Program Director, he complained verbally to Dr. Morales on numerous occasions that the large volume of patients the OMS residency program was handling at MET meant that residents were being improperly supervised or unsupervised by attendings at MET. 56.1 Statement, Ex. B (Geldzahler Dep. at 41:15–43:7; 73:14–74:2). Dr. Geldzahler testified that he warned Dr. Morales that the improperly supervised OMS residents presented a danger to patients during unsupervised treatment and to the public when residents would later be expected to perform procedures for which they were ill-trained. 56.1 Statement, Ex. B (Geldzahler Dep. at 41:22–42:8, 82:4–82:16).

All residents in the OMS residency program must be subject to either general supervision or direct supervision by the attendings. 56.1 Response ¶ 46, Ex. 6 (Job Description with Specific Competencies for House Staff). Dr. Geldzahler believed that much of the general and direct supervision provided by the attendings at MET was insufficient. OMS residents work in the Dental Clinic and the Operating Room at MET, but these two areas are located on different floors. Geldzahler Decl. ¶ 8; 56.1 Response, Ex. l(Morales Dep. at 56:24–58:25). All surgeries by OMS residents in the operating room were directly supervised by OMS attendings. 56.1 Response, Ex. 2 (Geldzahler Dep. at 218:21–219:16). However, Dr. Geldzahler stated that there were “scores” of instances in which a first-year OMS resident would be performing procedures in the Dental Clinic and the OMS attending would be in the operating room, which was in another part of the hospital. 56.1 Response, Exs. 2 (Geldzahler Dep. at 44:10–46:11) & 3 (Goldsmith Dep. at...