Prothro v. Prime Healthcare Servs. (Summary)

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Prothro v. Prime Healthcare Servs., No. 3:13-CV-108-RCJ-WGC (D. Nev. Oct. 16, 2013)

Finding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada dismissed a lawsuit brought by an interventional cardiologist who claimed that a hospital failed to adequately accommodate his disability (dyslexia) in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and retaliated against him for complaining about the failure to accommodate by subjecting him to onerous peer review and reporting him to the National Practitioner Data Bank.  The physician also claimed that the hospital violated a settlement agreement (entered into some time after the physician requested a hearing regarding a suspension) because the agreement stated that the hospital would comply with the ADA, which it did not.

The district court held that the ADA did not apply because the physician was not an employee of the hospital but, rather, an independent member of the medical staff.  In support of its conclusion, the court noted that the physician had signed several applications for reappointment that explicitly stated they were not for employment and that the acceptance of an application did not result in employment by the hospital.  The court went on to note that the hospital contractually agreed to provide the physician with ADA-type rights by stating such in the settlement agreement.  But, enforcement of those rights would need to be accomplished through a breach of contract claim and did not, through mere reference to the ADA, give rise to a federal cause of action.  With no federal claim in dispute, the court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.