Dudark v. Sw. Med. Ctr. (Summary)

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

Dudark v. Sw. Med. Ctr., No. CIV-13-401-M (W.D. Ok. May 1, 2014)

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgmefulltextnt on a former employee’s breach of contract, discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower claims against a medical center and its parent corporation.

Plaintiff, a Caucasian, worked as a full-time therapist.  In October 2011, she complained about unfair pay and a month later was sent a warning letter.  In early 2012, she reported a HIPAA violation.   Her request to work part-time ultimately was allowed, but her pay was reduced and she was terminated when a replacement was found.  The lawsuit alleged that her pay was not commensurate with her experience, she was disciplined for conduct that failed to bring reprimand to her African-American colleagues, and she was not afforded a part-time opportunity while the same was allowed for African-American therapists.

In denying defendants’ motion in part, the court held that although defendants proffered legitimate explanations for plaintiff’s reduction in pay and termination (such as her move from full-time to part-time and the hiring of her replacement), there were inconsistencies and contradictions in defendants’ reasoning and thus there was a material dispute of fact as to the discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower claims.

In granting defendants’ motion in part, the court held that plaintiff was an at-will employee and thus her contract could be terminated at any time and defendants did not breach their employment agreement through termination.