Clark v. Evergreen Sw. Behavioral Health Servs., LLC (Summary)

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Clark v. Evergreen Sw. Behavioral Health Servs., LLC, No. 1:12-cv-00218 (S.D. Ohio May 2, 2014)

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied a hospital’s motion for summary judgment against a former employee’s claims of sex discrimination and retaliatory discharge.  Mr. Clark, a registered nurse, was allegedly forced to resign after breaking off a consensual sexual relationship with Dr. Cantor, the Acting Medical Director/Administrator of the hospital. According to the allegations in the case, Dr. Cantor pressured the Director of Nursing to fire Clark shortly after their break-up.  Ms. Charlier, the Director of Nursing, offered instead to move Clark to a separate shift so that he would no longer be working alongside Dr. Cantor.  When Clark asked Charlier about why he was being moved to another shift, she told him that it was because Dr. Cantor wanted him fired.  Clark informed her about his past affair with Dr. Cantor, which Charlier passed on to her supervisor and to a Managing Member of the Board.  A member of the hospital’s management team told Charlier that “Someone is going to have to fall on the sword.”  Clark volunteered to resign so that no one else would be punished. Clark’s lawsuit alleges that he was discriminated against on the basis of his sex and retaliated against for engaging in protected activity in violation of Ohio law.  The hospital counters that Clark was terminated for sexually harassing other employees and for creating a “disruptive and racially charged atmosphere” at the hospital.  The court denied the hospital’s claim for summary judgment, noting the suspicious timing of Clark’s termination (just one week after he broke off the affair).  The court found that Clark had established prima facie claims of discrimination and retaliation.