Potts v. Howard Univ. Hosp., Civil Action No.: 04-1856 (RMU)

• Decision Date: 08 September 2010
• Docket Number: Civil Action No.: 04-1856 (RMU)
• Citation: 736 F.Supp.2d 87
• Parties: Rossi POTTS, Plaintiff, v. HOWARD UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

736 F.Supp.2d 87

Rossi POTTS, Plaintiff,

v.HOWARD UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, Defendant.

Civil Action No.: 04-1856 (RMU).

United States District Court,

District of Columbia.

Sept. 8, 2010.

Elbert Lindsey Maxwell, II, Bailey Gary P.C., Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

Michelle M. McGeogh, Timothy F. McCormack, Ballard Spahr, LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Granting the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment

RICARDO M. URBINA, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the court on the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff, a male, brings this action against his former employer, Howard University Hospital (the "Hospital" or the "defendant"), asserting claims of disparate treatment based on his gender and retaliation, in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act ("DCHRA"), D.C. code § 2-1402.11 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., and wrongful terminationunder the laws of the District of Columbia. For the reasons discussed below, the court grants the defendant's motion for summary judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

The plaintiff was employed by the Hospital from 1994 to 2002 as an echocardiograph technologist ("ET") in the echocardiography ("echo") lab. 4th Am. Compl. ¶ 4. During his tenure, the plaintiff was supervised directly by Bernice Jackson, M.D., the director of the echo lab. Def.'s Statement of Undisputed Facts ("Def.'s Statement") ¶ 3. Jackson's supervisor was the chief of the cardiology division, Deborah Williams, M.D. Id. ¶¶ 4-5. Williams, in turn, reported to Randall McKennie, the Administrative Director of the Department of Medicine. Id.

Upon joining the Hospital, the plaintiff worked with Jane Spencer, an ET whose salary exceeded his own. Id. ¶ 6. Both Spencer and the plaintiff were, however, "at the same level," because there was no hierarchy among the ETs. Pl.'s Dep. 67:14-21; Def.'s Statement ¶¶ 5, 6. Instead, the Hospital's Director of Human Resources, Anthony Jacks ("Jacks") attributes the salary discrepancy between Spencer and the plaintiff to Spencer's approximately thirty years of service at Howard University. Def.'s Mot., Ex. A. ("Jacks Aff.") ¶ 9.

The plaintiff and Spencer worked together until May 1998, when Spencer took leave due to illness. Def.'s Statement ¶ 9. During Spencer's absence, the plaintiff "helped [to] train and orientate" the Hospital's temporary replacement ET, Colleen Williams. 4th Am. Compl. ¶¶ 12-13. Spencer ultimately passed away and the plaintiff "made it known to the defendant that he was interested and wanted to be considered for [Spencer's] vacancy." 4th Am. Compl. ¶ 18; see generally Pl.'s Dep. The plaintiff believed that Spencer's death had created a vacancy for a higher-paid position and understood that "higher pay [would] constitute a promotion." Pl.'s Dep. 181:20-21. The Hospital, however, did not advertise any such vacancy and, instead, hired Williams permanently on August 26, 1999. Def.'s Statement ¶ 10; Pl.'s Opp'n at 2.

The plaintiff acknowledged that during his employment he received numerous complaints regarding his performance. Pl.'s Opp'n at 2. In a written reprimand issued in 2000, the Hospital advised the plaintiff that he had been "late forty-six time[s] between December, 1999 through June, 2000." Def.'s Mot., Ex. F.; see also Id., Ex. D (noting in a 1996 performance evaluation that the plaintiff "continue[d] to have multiple late arrivals"); Ex. E (stating in his 1998 performance evaluation that the plaintiff had received "a letter of formal counseling on his time and attendance"). In addition to these tardiness and attendance issues, the plaintiff's co-workers and supervisors complained that, on multiple occasions, he had refused to perform echocardiograms despite a physician's orders to do so. Def.'s Statement ¶ 19; see also Def.'s Mot. Exs. J-M. Based on such acts of insubordination, which "needlessly delayed the delivery of care to the patient," McKennie recommended in July 2001 that the Hospital fire the plaintiff. Def.'s Mot., Ex. M. Termination was proposed for a second time sometime prior to March 26, 2002, "based on [the plaintiff's] failure to identify himself to patients as a technician, misrepresentation of himself as a doctor and performance of inappropriate unrequested abdominal ultrasound examinations of female." Id., Ex. G.

On March 26, 2002, Williams recommended the plaintiff's termination yetagain after he allegedly, "without medical authorization, placed a patient on a monitoring device and then left the room, failing to monitor the patient." Def.'s Statement ¶ 23; see also Def.'s Mot., Ex. G. On April 19, 2002, the Hospital terminated the plaintiff, indicating in a letter that he was being terminated for this incident described by Williams and because he "continued to conduct [him]self outside of the boundaries of [his] job description." Def.'s Mot., Ex. N. The plaintiff contends that the Hospital never "investigated" the incident or discussed the allegations with him. 4th Am. Compl. ¶ 24; Pl.'s Opp'n at 4. After his termination, the plaintiff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), claiming that the Hospital had retaliated against him for his previously filed gender discrimination complaint. 4th Am. Compl. ¶ 2.

B. Procedural History

On September 25, 1999, the plaintiff filed a complaint with the District of Columbia's Office of Human Rights (DCOHR), "claiming gender discrimination based on the defendant's failure to consider him" for Spencer's position, which he maintains would have been a promotion. 4th Am. Compl. ¶ 21. Between October 2004 and September 2005, the plaintiff filed four lawsuits in the district court, alleging gender discrimination, retaliation, retaliatory discharge, wrongful termination, breach of contract, obstruction, fraud, reliance and other violations of federal and state statutes. See 240 F.R.D. 14, 16-17 (D.D.C.2007). All four cases were consolidated and, on January 4, 2007, the court dismissed the case after determining that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. See generally Id. Upon appeal, the Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiff's claims except for his gender discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination claims, which were remanded for further reconsideration. Potts v. Howard Univ. Hospital, 258 Fed.Appx. 346, 347 (D.C.Cir.2007).

On September 4, 2008, the plaintiff filed a fourth amended complaint restating his claims for gender discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination pursuant to Title VII and the DCHRA.¹See generally 4th Am. Compl. The complaint asserts that the defendant (1) discriminated against him "[b]y failing to promote him because of his gender," (2) retaliated against him "by terminating his employment" and (3) wrongfully terminated him "by ending the plaintiff's employment based on illegal discriminatory acts and baseless allegations regarding his work." Id. at 5. The defendant has filed a motion for summary judgment.²See generallyDef.'s Mot. With this motion now ripe for adjudication, the court turns to the applicable legal standards and the parties' arguments.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standard for a Motion for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Diamond v. Atwood, 43 F.3d 1538, 1540 (D.C.Cir.1995). To determine which facts are "material," a court must look to the substantive law on which each claim rests. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A "genuine issue" is one whose resolution could establish an element of a claim or defense and, therefore, affect the outcome of the action. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court must draw all justifiable inferences in the nonmoving party's favor and accept the nonmoving party's evidence as true. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A nonmoving party, however, must establish more than "the mere existence of a scintilla of evidence" in support of its position. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the moving party must show that the nonmoving party "fail[ed] to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. By pointing to the absence of evidence proffered by the nonmoving party, a moving party may succeed on summary judgment. Id.

The nonmoving party may defeat summary judgment through factual representations made in a sworn affidavit if he "support[s] his allegations ... with facts in the record," Greene v. Dalton, 164 F.3d 671, 675 (D.C.Cir.1999) (quoting Harding v. Gray, 9 F.3d 150, 154 (D.C.Cir.1993)), or provides "direct testimonial evidence," Arrington v. United States, 473 F.3d 329, 338 (D.C.Cir.2006). Indeed, for the court to accept anything less "would defeat the centralpurpose of the summary judgment device, which is to weed out those cases insufficiently meritorious to warrant the expense of a jury trial." Greene, 164 F.3d at 675.

B. The Plaintiff's Sex Discrimination Claim

1. Legal Standard for Gender Discrimination

Generally, to prevail on a claim of gender discrimination under Title VII, a plaintiff must follow a three-part burden-shifting analysis known as the McDonnell Douglas framework. Lathram v. Snow, 336 F.3d 1085, 1088 (D.C.Cir.2003). The Supreme Court explained the framework as follows:

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