Lufti v. Brighton Community Hosp. Assoc

Lufti v. Brighton Community Hosp. Assoc.,

No. 00CA0245 (Colo. App. May 10, 2001)

The physician-plaintiff contracted to provide emergency room services with the corporation
that in turn contracted with the hospital to provide physicians to cover the
hospital’s ER. The hospital CEO asked that the physician be removed from the
ER schedule after a patient complained that the physician was rude and refused
to provide treatment.

The Physician sued the hospital and the
hospital CEO, alleging racial and national origin discrimination under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. Section 1981, tortious
interference with an employment agreement, breach of contract and breach of
covenant of good faith and dealing. The trial court granted defendants’ motion
for summary judgment, ruling that Title VII did not apply because the physician
was an independent contractor.

The Colorado Court of Appeals, affirmed,
ruling that an employer-employee relationship must be established in order to
assert a claim under Title VII, and when Section 1981 claims stem from the same
facts, the same must be shown. The court denied the other claims because the
physician only looked to the hospital’s bylaws after he was removed from the
schedule, and therefore could not claim that he relied on the bylaws as an
employment contract.