Verna v. Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County

• Decision Date: 26 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-20332-CIV.,07-20332-CIV.
• Citation: 539 F.Supp.2d 1340
• Parties: Florence VERNA, Plaintiff, v. The PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

Page 1340

539 F.Supp.2d 1340

Florence VERNA, Plaintiff, v. The PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY d/b/a Jackson Memorial Hospital, Defendant.

No. 07-20332-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

February 26, 2008.

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G. Ware Cornell, Jr., Cornell & Associates, P.A., Weston, FL, for plaintiff.

R.A. Cuevas, Jr., .County Atty., Scott B. Mario, Asst. County Atty., Miami, FL, for defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT: CLOSING CASE

ALAN S. GOLD, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 22] as to all counts of Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint: (1) Race and National Origin Discrimination under the Florida Civil Rights Act ("FCRA"); (2) Retaliation under the FCRA; (3) Disability Discrimination under the FCRA; (4) Disability Discrimination and Perceived Disability Discrimination in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794; and, (5) Violation of Constitutional Rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This Court has original jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 over the federal claims (Counts IV and V), and supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 over the state law claims (Counts I-III). The parties have filed a response and reply, as well as statements of undisputed and disputed facts. In addition, I held oral argument on the Motion on February 22, 2008. Having reviewed the parties' pleadings, the record evidence and relevant case law, and having considered the parties' arguments, I conclude that summary judgment should be entered for Defendant as to all counts of Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint.

I. Factual Background

Defendant filed a Statement of Material Facts [DE 24], and several depositions and exhibits in support of its motion for summary judgment. In turn, Plaintiff filed a Statement of Disputed and Additional Facts,¹ as well as a public records request letter sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Risk Management Department, and the response to her request. [DE 30 at Ex. A]. Upon a careful review of the record, I find the following relevant facts to be undisputed and supported by evidence.

A. The Parties

Plaintiff Florence Verna ("Plaintiff' or "Verna") is a black female of Haitian national origin. (Statement of Material Facts, ¶ 1). Verna was employed by Defendant The Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County ("Defendant" or "Trust") from 2001 until 2004, when she was laid off during a large scale reduction in force.² (Id.). The Trust is a public institution which operates Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami-Dade County, Florida. (Id. at ¶ 2). I take judicial notice, of the fact that the Trust is formed under Chapter 25A of the Miami-Dade County Code. Fed. R.Evid. 201.

B. Verna's Employment with the Trust

Verna began working for the Trust as a Risk Management Coordinator in 2001. (Id. at ¶ 3). In 2002, her position was reclassified to Facility Risk Manager. (Id.). In 2003, she received a promotion to Associate Administrator in the Risk Management Department. (Id.). Her job duties included maintaining an incident reporting system; handling claims and litigation activities; and making recommendations for corrective action. (Id). Verna's immediate supervisor was Juan Reyes ("Reyes"), Director of the Risk Management Department. (Id). Reyes reported to Abbe Bendell, Vice President for Care Management. (Statement of Additional Facts, DE 30 ¶ 1).

Besides holding the position of Associate Administrator in the Risk Management Department, Verna also served as the hospital's designated Patient Safety Officer. (Statement of Material Facts, DE 24, ¶ 4). Florida Statute § 395.1012(2) requires healthcare facilities to appoint a Patient Safety Officer "for the purpose of promoting the health and safety of patients, reviewing and evaluating the quality of patient safety measures used by the facility, and assisting in the implementation of the facility patient safety plan." Fla. Stat. § 395.1012(2).

Verna received an "exceeds standards" on her August 2004 evaluation, and Reyes testified that "Florence is a very hard worker. She used to come in early, leave late. Was really a great asset to the department." (Statement of Additional Facts, DE 30, ¶ 6).

C. Confrontations with Co-Workers

Verna's job duties often brought her into contact with Leah Jaffe ("Jaffe"), the Quality Management Coordinator for the Division of Nursing. (Statement of Material Facts, DE 24, ¶ 5). Verna believes that Jaffe is responsible for her termination from the Public Health Trust. (Id.). According to Verna, Jaffe "was the mastermind of my wrongful termination." (Id.)

Both Verna and Jaffe were involved in conducting "root cause analysis," a method of investigating incidents aimed at determining the root cause of a problem and developing strategies to prevent the problem from recurring. (Id. at ¶ 6). Jaffe felt that Verna could be argumentative with people and abrasive to the point that it negatively impacted the process of root cause analysis. (Id.). According to Verna, Jaffe once told her that she needed "to learn the culture of this hospital." (Id.). Verna took this comment to be a reference to her race or national origin. (Id.). Jaffe also made references about Verna's accent and her ability to speak English, such as "I don't understand what you're trying to say. What is this? What language?." (Verna Depo., 96:14-18). Verna further alleges that Jaffe made comments about Verna not knowing what she was doing, and that she told people that Verna was not going to make it as a patient safety officer. (Id. at 101:18-21).

Verna believes that Jaffe "poisoned her name" so that the first time Verna met Bendell, she told Verna "I hear that you're a very difficult person to work with." (Id. at 94:2-7; 103: 8-9; 105: 8-15). Jaffe alleges that other people complained to her about Verna's abrasive behavior.³ (Statement of Material Facts, DE 24 ¶ 7). Jaffe brought these concerns to the attention of Verna's supervisor, Reyes, and to Dr. Gerard Kaiser, Executive Vice President. (Id.). Reyes testified that he had heard "anecdotal stories" that Verna sometimes "rubbed people the wrong way." (Id.). However, no one ever demanded that Reyes discipline Verna or terminate her employment. (Id.).

Jaffe was never Verna's supervisor. (Id. at ¶ 8). Jaffe never recommended to anyone that Verna be laid off, nor did she have the authority to make decisions concerning Verna's employment with the Trust.⁴ (Id.)

Verna's job duties also brought her into contact with Jane Mass ("Mass"), the Chief Nursing Officer. (Id. at ¶ 9). As the Patient Safety Officer, Verna participated in weekly patient safety rounds led by Mass, and attended the weekly meeting of the Clinical Nurse Practice Group, which Mass chaired. (Id.). Despite their frequent interaction, Verna and Mass worked in different departments. (Id.). Mass was never Verna's supervisor. (Id.).

Verna and Mass "locked horns" on one occasion. (Id. at ¶ 10). According to Mass, Verna had developed a procedure for auditing patient records which Mass regarded as to complicated. (Id.). Mass told Verna, that the procedure was too cumbersome and would not be used. (Id.). According to Mass, Verna insisted on distributing copies of the procedure during the February 26, 2004 meeting of the Clinical Nurse Practice Group. (Id.). In response, Mass admonished Verna that, she had already been told not to do that. (Id.). As Mass recalls, Verna became furious.⁵ (Id.).

According to Verna, she was told to bring tools to measure the patient safety goals to the meeting. At the meeting, Jaffe verbally attacked her and wrongfully accused, her of disclosing the tools prior to the meeting. (Statement of Additional Facts, DE 30, ¶ 9). According to Verna, Jaffe told her: "everything you do is a mistake." (Verna Depo., 93:3-12).

D. Verna's Complaints

On February 29, 2004, Verna wrote a letter to Ardy Dargahi ("Dargahi"), Compliance Officer in the Risk Management Department, accusing Mass of yelling at her and ridiculing her during the February 26, 2004 meeting, (the "Feb. 29 Letter"). (Statement of Material Facts, DE 24, ¶ 11). Verna also asserted that she had been treated unfairly since receiving her promotion to Associate Administrator. (Id.). In the letter, Verna requested "an investigation to find the real cause for such violation behaviors in this workplace." (Id. at Ex. 9). The letter further states that the implementation of the National Patient Safety Goals had been the most difficult task she had ever had to implement "not because of the amount of work, not the complexity of the project, [but] because of the resistance to change by key administrators who do not want to make it easy for me to achieve." (Id). She also indicated that she was the third Patient Safety Officer to try to implement these goals within a two-year period, and that "the task was not easy for them either." (Id.). Verna further alleged that Mass and Jaffe, as wail as others present at the February 26 meeting, made very hostile remarks and ridiculed her work product. (Id.). Verna commented that "[b]eing a risk manager is not easy, you are never liked because you need to make the difficult decisions and give accurate information all the time. I cannot please everyone ..." (Id).

Twice in the three-page letter Verna rhetorically asked: "Is it my color?." (Id. at Ex. 9). The first instance was after she indicated that following the February 26 meeting incident she received calls from other employees who felt bad for her and tried to giver her words of encouragement. She then wrote: "No matter what I try, good or bad it does not matter — I am still no good, [sic] Is it my color? Is it my attitude toward hard work? Is it the hospital culture, [sic]." In the next paragraph, she wrote: "Everything I do is wrong in [Jaffe's] eyes, is it my color?" (Id.). She concluded the letter by...