Dall v. St. Catherine of Siena Med. Ctr. (Summary)

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Dall v. St. Catherine of Siena Med. Ctr., No. 11-CV-0444 (E.D. N.Y. Aug. 14, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a hospital’s motion for summary judgment on a gender discrimination claim filed by a formerly employed male MRI technician.  The court found that because the female nurse who accused the technician of sexual harassment was engaged in sexually inappropriate conduct herself and violated the medical center’s Sexual Harassment Policy, but was not disciplined, a jury could find gender discrimination.

However, the court dismissed the technician’s hostile work environment claim, finding that the technician could not establish that the inappropriate sexual conduct in the environment was gender-based. As for the technician’s retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and New York State Human Rights Law, although the technician was terminated soon after he filed his own sexual harassment claim against the female nurse, he may still have been terminated after the medical center’s investigation into the complaint against him for alleged sexual harassment.