Woodard v. New York Health and Hospitals Corp.
| Decision Date | 17 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. CV-04-5297(DGT). |
| Citation | 554 F.Supp.2d 329 |
| Parties | Hillaire WOODARD, Plaintiff, v. NEW YORK HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Gary B. Port, Law Offices of Gary Port, P.C., Floral Park, NY, for Plaintiff.
Amy Grossberg, New York City Law Department, Robert James Anderson, Office of the Corporation Counsel, New York, NY, for Defendant.
Plaintiff Hillaire Woodard ("Woodard" or "plaintiff") commenced this action against her former employer, defendant New York Health and Hospitals Corporation ("HHC" or "defendant"). Woodard seeks relief on two claims pursuant to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA"), 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq. Woodard's two causes of action under USERRA allege that HHC discriminated against her on the basis of her military service and denied her appropriate reemployment after her return from military duty. Woodard's third cause of action alleges that HHC is overcharging her under the parties' Military Pay Reimbursement Agreement ("the Agreement").
HHC has filed this motion for leave to amend its answer to add a counterclaim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 13(f), and for summary judgment on plaintiffs three claims and HHC's own counterclaim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. For the following reasons, defendant is permitted to amend its answer to add a counterclaim. In addition, defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety.
(1)
HHC is a New York City-controlled corporation whose employees are considered City employees. HHC first hired Woodard as a Coordinating Manager in its Early Intervention program on March 13, 1995. Woodard Dep. Tr. at 31; Def.'s Ex. B ("Employee Record"). Plaintiff remained employed in the Early Intervention program until July 3, 2000, when she was hired by Dr. Van Dunn, M.D. ("Dunn"), Senior Vice President of Medical and Professional Affairs at HHC, for the position of Associate Director of Health Care Standards ("ADHCS") in HHC's Office of Accreditation and Regulatory Services ("OARS"). See Def.'s Ex. B. Woodard's direct supervisor in this new position was Caroline Jacobs ("Jacobs"), Assistant Vice President of Accreditation and Regulatory Services. Woodard Dep. at 32. The position of ADHCS is categorized by HHC as a Group 11, or managerial, title. See Def.'s Ex. E (Letter from Caroline Jacobs to Hillaire Woodard (Jun. 21, 2000)). Woodard served as one of four managerial-level employees in OARS. Dunn Dep. at 13-14.
Woodard testified at her deposition that, while employed as an associate director in OARS, she was responsible for conducting seasonal surveys of eleven hospitals, six diagnostic treatment centers and four long-term care facilities to evaluate their compliance with accreditation criteria and regulatory standards. Woodard Dep. at 32-34. This required Woodard to go to the facilities and determine whether the facility was in compliance with a checklist of regulatory requirements. Id. at 33. Surveys were performed one to three times per week during survey seasons. Id. at 34.
In addition, Woodard was responsible for reviewing the Quality Assurance ("QA") books prepared by each of the facilities for "upward and downward trends." Id. at 38. Woodard would look through these books to "see how [her] hospitals were doing." Id. at 37. This consisted of "highlighting] and addressing] any Quality Assurance issues or discrepancies," and then providing a summary report to a supervisor. Id. at 37-39. Woodard attended the Quality Assurance meetings of the facilities to which she was assigned, although she did not speak at them. Id. at 34, 40. These meetings were conducted by HHC's Quality Assurance board to monitor facilities for "issues or potential issues that would put the hospital at risk for liability." Id. at 36. Woodard also prepared vendor contracts, composed a newsletter, and prepared PowerPoint presentations for board meetings, as well as other tasks focused on quality assurance and regulatory compliance. Woodard Dep. at 40-49.
HHC Operating Procedure No. 20-26, which governs time and leave regulations, provides that all Group 11 employees in the armed forces are "entitled to a leave of absence while engaged in the performance of `ordered military duty,' while going to and returning from such duty and where otherwise required by law." See Def.'s Ex. H ("OP 20-26") at 14. In addition, HHC has a separate Operating Procedure No. 20-15 which details the specific rules governing an employee's leave of absence for military duty. See Def.'s Ex. X ("OP 20-15") at 1. According to OP 20-15, "an HHC employee shall be paid his/her salary while engaged in `ordered military duty,' and while going to and returning from such duty, not exceeding a total of thirty (30) calendar days or twenty-two (22) normally scheduled work days, whichever is greater, in one calendar year." Id. at 1. The thirty calendar days are "computed and charged against the annual balance on a day-to-day basis." Id. at 4 (emphasis in original). However, when calculating the twenty-two workdays of military leave, "only those hours the employee is actually absent from the normal workday are to be charged against the [employee's] hourly bank." Id.2 Mondo Hall ("Hall"), Associate Director for Employee Benefits, testified that under this policy, employees on military leave receive their HHC salary and their military salary for the twenty-two workdays or thirty calendar days of leave. Hall Dep. at 14. According to OP 20-15, "ordered military duty shall be charged against the annual balances on both a calendar-day and workday basis until both the 30 calendar-day entitlement and the 22 normally scheduled workday entitlement have been exhausted." Def.'s Ex. X at 4. After this paid military leave entitlement is exhausted, an employee can use other available leave time (such as vacation days) or unpaid days off for additional military leave. Hall Dep. at 15-17.
In November of 1986, prior to beginning her employment with HHC, Woodard joined the United States Army Reserves. Woodard Dep. at 21. She has attained the rank of major in the 1398th Deployment Support Brigade. Compl. ¶ 7. As a member of the Army Reserves, Woodard was required to participate in one weekend of military training per month, and a minimum of fourteen days of active duty each calendar year.3 Reservists can also be called upon at any time to perform military service in addition to their minimum requirements. Woodard Dep. at 60-62. Woodard performed her obligatory military service each year while employed by HHC. Id. at 59. The only other HHC employee Woodard could identify as a reservist was Dr. Consuelo Dungca ("Dungca"), the Senior Assistant Vice President of Clinical Affairs. Id. at 58.
At the time that Woodard interviewed with Jacobs for the position of ADHCS, she informed Jacobs that she was a member of the Army Reserves and that "she had been ordered to military leave in July of 2000." Jacobs Dep. at 10, 19. Woodard was hired for the position on July 3, 2000. She took a three week leave of absence to perform military service that same month.
In January of 2001, Woodard requested one week of military leave. At the time, Woodard was pregnant. Woodard testified that Jacobs seemed "confused" about Woodard going on military leave while pregnant. Woodard Dep. at 51. Jacobs testified that she was "trying to understand and get a better handle on the frequency with which [Woodard] might be called to leave." Jacobs Dep. at 21. Jacobs stated that this leave did not cause problems or hardship in OARS. Id. at 22.
On January 4, 2001, Woodard submitted a request to HHC for child care leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") to Gloria Velez ("Velez"), Senior Director of Human Resources Services, for the period of February 21, 2001 through September 3, 2001. Def.'s Ex. K (Request for Leave Under the Family Medical Leave Act (Jan. 4, 2001)). This request was granted on March 6, 2001 by Hall. Def.'s Ex. L (Letter from Mondo Hall to Hillaire Woodard (Mar. 6, 2001)). Woodard returned to work from her six-month leave of absence on September 4, 2001. Def.'s Ex. B.
On September 11, 2001, one week after Woodard returned to work at HHC, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were struck by acts of terrorism. That same day, Woodard volunteered for military service. Woodard Dep. at 65. On September 13, 2001, Woodard informed Jacobs that she had been put on alert, meaning that "we could leave at any minute." Id. at 52. In response, Woodard testified that Jacobs "screamed at me [over the phone] that this is going to mess up her scheduling" of the surveys. Id. Jacobs also said to Woodard that "you just got back." Id. at 53. Woodard never discussed the incident with Jacobs, but Woodard claimed that "it was clear how [Jacobs] felt," and that Jacobs "was pissed off that I was leaving" because of Woodard's military obligation. Id. at 56.
At her deposition, Jacobs acknowledged that she was "shocked" to hear that Woodard was going off to war, because Jacobs Dep. at 35. Jacobs also said that the staff of OARS had grown accustomed to the extra workload that would result from Woodard's military leave as a result of her six-month FMLA leave. Jacobs stated that ...
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