Saville v. Houston County Healthcare Authority

Decision Date12 May 1994
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 93-T-704-S.
PartiesDella Denise Pittman SAVILLE, Plaintiff, v. HOUSTON COUNTY HEALTHCARE AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

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Samuel Fisher, Ann C. Robertson, Gordon, Silberman, Wiggins & Childs, Birmingham, AL, for plaintiff Della Denise Pittman Saville.

David J. Middlebrooks, Robert David Proctor, Albert Loring Vreeland, II, Lehr, Middlebrooks & Proctor, Birmingham, AL, for defendants Houston County Healthcare Authority, Southeast AL Medical Center and Virginia Gail Holliday, individually and in her official capacity as Director of Manley L. Cummins School of Nurse Anasthesia.

Dow T. Huskey, Jr., Dothan, AL, for defendant Troy State University.

Gary Clayborn Sherrer, Hall, Sherrer & Smith, Dothan, AL, Mary E. Pilcher, Webb & Eley, P.C., Montgomery, AL, for defendant Michael Shanks, individually and in his official capacity and as an agent/employer.

ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Della Denise Pittman Saville charges defendantsHouston County Healthcare Authority, Southeast Alabama Medical Center, and supervising nurse anesthetist Michael Shanks — with sexual harassment and retaliatory termination, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 2000e through 2000e-17, as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981a; in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C.A. §§ 1681 to 1688; and in violation of the first and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, as enforced by 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983.1 Saville further charges that Shanks conspired with others to deprive her of equal protection of the laws on the basis of her sex, in violation of 42 U.S.C.A. § 1985(3). Finally, she charges all defendants with state-law claims of invasion of privacy, outrageous conduct, and assault and battery. Relying on 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331, 1343, 1367, and 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5(f)(3), she has properly invoked both the original and supplemental jurisdiction of the court.

This cause is currently before the court on several motions: (a) a motion for summary judgment filed by the institutional defendants, Houston County Healthcare Authority and Southeast Alabama Medical Center; (b) a motion for summary judgment filed by Shanks; (c) motions by the institutional defendants to strike certain of Saville's evidentiary submissions; and (d) a motion by Saville to amend her complaint to add a breach-of-contract claim. For the reasons that follow, the motions for summary judgment will be granted in part, the motions to strike will be denied as moot, and the motion to amend will be granted.

I. BACKGROUND

Saville enrolled in the Manley L. Cummins School of Nurse Anesthesia in September 1990. The Cummins School is located within and is a part of the Southeast Alabama Regional Medical Center, which in turn is operated by the Houston County Healthcare Authority. Prior to enrolling, Saville was a registered nurse with at least eleven years in critical-care nursing and had been certified in advanced cardiac life support. With these qualifications, she surpassed the minimum admission requirements of the nurse anesthesia program. All of the students in Saville's class were women.

The nurse anesthesia program at the Medical Center consisted of a two-year curriculum, with the first three-month period dedicated to classroom instruction and the remainder dedicated to clinical education in the operating room. It appears undisputed that Saville performed well in the academic portion of the program. The parties dispute whether she received poor clinical evaluations prior to June 7, 1991.

In June 1991, Virginia Gail Holliday became the director of the Cummins School of Nurse Anesthesia. Saville alleges that Holliday completely changed the evaluation process; the institutional defendants assert that she implemented the first formal evaluation procedure in the nurse anesthesia program. Shanks was employed at the Cummins School as a certified registered nurse anesthetist and as an instructor. He supervised Saville and evaluated her performance. The gravamen of Saville's complaint is an alleged incident of sexual harassment that occurred on June 7, 1991.

Saville alleges that several incidents of inappropriate sexual comments directed toward her by Shanks — all of which are denied by Shanks — occurred prior to the incident of June 7, 1991. In one instance, Shanks allegedly discussed with Saville his sex life with his wife, complaining about infrequent sexual relations. He then allegedly stated that "he was going to bang whoever was bending over."2 Saville was offended by this discussion. Another time, Shanks allegedly told Saville during an operation that she was a student who was to fade into the woodwork and be seen and not heard, after which he told her: "I want a shot of leg."3 Saville states that she reported this incident to Linda Callahan, then director of the nurse anesthetist program. When asked by Callahan whether she should speak to Shanks, Saville stated "No, I am afraid it will hurt me in school. I have handled it."4 On another occasion, Shanks allegedly suggested in front of Saville's supervisors that Saville was a lesbian because she hugged another female student. In the presence of Dr. Shannon Carson, on yet another occasion, Shanks allegedly grabbed Saville in the rib cage from behind. Saville then stated, in the presence of Dr. Carson, that she grew up with boys and would defend herself if Shanks kept bothering her. Shanks responded that he didn't "see any boys around here" and walked off. Dr. Carson did not respond.

The key incident in this case occurred on June 7, 1991. Saville alleges that she was in the recovery room when another nurse stated "we are working our asses off." Another female nurse, Marty Jackson, then grabbed Saville's buttocks and said "obviously not yours." Saville was concerned about this incident because she had been told that Jackson was a lesbian. She then asked another nurse if Jackson was in fact a lesbian. At this time, Shanks entered the conversation and proceeded to touch or grab Saville's buttocks. Saville then told Shanks not to do this, but he allegedly did so again, after which Saville struck Shanks across his chest. This incident was observed by Dr. Carson and others. Shanks does not dispute that the incident occurred, although he asserts that he acted in a joking manner and that he only touched Saville's thigh area. Saville reports that she was humiliated and angry, particularly because she observed the others present, including Dr. Carson, laughing at her. Saville was seen crying after this incident. Saville further reports that she confronted Shanks shortly after the incident and explained how offended she was and that Shanks responded by telling her that she was in trouble in her clinical work.

Saville reported the incident to Linda Callahan, and the incident was then reported to Shanks's supervisor, Ilse Cantey. Dr. Carson also submitted a memorandum to Cantey describing the incident. Cantey then counseled Shanks about his behavior and warned him that further behavior would result in his termination; it is disputed whether Shanks was warned about sexual harassment before this incident. Dr. Carson also counseled Shanks independently, and Shanks received a written warning. Saville reports that she was assured by Cantey that she would no longer have to work directly with Shanks. The parties dispute whether the Cummins School had a written sexual harassment policy, but Shanks admits that he had never seen nor heard of one and received no training in this area.

Following June 7, 1991, Saville admits that Shanks behaved as a "perfect gentleman" in terms of physical conduct. She alleges, however, that Shanks retaliated against her by downgrading her in clinical evaluations. Evaluations of Saville's clinical performance did, indeed, become increasingly negative. The parties dispute whether this was caused by Shanks's input and Saville's inability to perform in a hostile and retaliatory work environment, as Saville alleges, or by Saville's true inability to perform in the clinical area, as the defendants allege. Saville alleges that director Holliday refused to assign Saville to supervisors other than Shanks and, indeed, appointed Shanks as one of her periodic evaluators.

In September 1991, Saville received a written warning from the "evaluation committee" because of problems with her performance; the warning listed areas of "critical weakness" including flexibility in planning and implementing an anesthesia care plan; independence and initiative in providing care; safe and efficient start of cases and delivery of anesthesia; early recognition and appropriate response to critical incidents; and thorough and timely record keeping.

On or about October 8, 1991, the evaluation committee placed Saville on a 30-day clinical probation; the committee provided her with weekly feedback and counseling about her progress during the probation and offered to meet with her. On November 21, 1991, her clinical probation was extended for 30 days. Finally, on January 6, 1992, the evaluation committee unanimously voted to dismiss Saville from the nurse anesthetist program because of her lack of progress. On January 7, 1992, Saville invoked the school's grievance procedure to challenge her dismissal.

Saville was present throughout the grievance procedure, was allowed to cross-examine witnesses, and was allowed to make a closing statement. She was not permitted, however, to be represented by counsel or to have the entire faculty consider her dismissal. It appears that other grievance procedures outlined in the student handbook were not adhered to by the institutional defendants, although they...

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