Haight v. NYU Langone Med. Ctr., Inc. — Jan. 2016 (Summary)

SEXUAL HARASSMENT/DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

Haight v. NYU Langone Med. Ctr., Inc.
No. 13 Civ. 4993 (LGS) (S.D. N.Y. Jan. 4, 2016)

The District Court for the Southern District of New York granted in part and denied in part a hospital’s motion for summary judgment with regard to a nurse practitioner’s claims of negligent supervision and retention, hostile work environment, and disability discrimination. Over a period of six years, the nurse practitioner (“NP”) was allegedly harassed by both a co-worker and a supervising physician at the hospital. The female co-worker made numerous sexual advances toward the NP, including touching her breasts, behind, and crotch and placing her hands inside the NP’s pants. Additionally, the co-worker improperly accessed the NP’s medical records and was suspected of leaving a used pregnancy test in the NP’s desk.

The NP was also allegedly harassed by her supervising physician at the hospital who, after learning that the NP suffered from a gynecological problem, presented her with a book containing a section “on women who were cursed by God because they have no children[.]” In addition to the book, the physician allegedly made comments to the NP about masturbating and inappropriately touched her in front of other staff members.

The NP made repeated complaints to HR and ultimately to the hospital’s Compliance Officer, and the co-worker was eventually fired because of her improper access of the NP’s medical records. Several months later, the co-worker was hired by a vendor of the hospital and was soon back on the premises. The NP saw her co-worker on the hospital premises a number of times, and suffered from nausea and fainting spells with each encounter. Allegedly, some of these sightings were coordinated by the supervising physician. The NP was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the behavior of the supervising physician and the co-worker. She began collecting worker’s compensation after she was terminated a year later.

The district court granted the hospital’s motion for summary judgment with regard to the NP’s negligent supervision and retention claim, holding that New York’s Worker’s Compensation statute preempted state common law negligence claims. The court further found that the NP had not offered any evidence to show the hospital had committed an intentional tort, a claim that would have been outside the preemption of the Worker’s Compensation statute.

However, the district court denied the hospital’s motion for summary judgment with regard to the NP’s hostile work environment claims. First, the court held that although some of the alleged harassment fell outside the three-year statute of limitations window, the earlier harassment was sufficiently related to the events that occurred within the limitation period and therefore was not time barred.

Second, the district court found the conduct and comments of the supervising physician, co-worker, and other employees were so pervasive and severe to create a sufficient question of fact as to whether a hostile work environment existed. The district court also found the allegations that the hospital failed to expediently investigate improper access to her medical records and failed to respond to reported incidents of sexual harassment were enough to show the hospital “encourage[ed], condon[ed], or approv[ed]” the discriminatory actions of its employees, thereby potentially extending liability to the hospital.

With regard to the disability discrimination claim, the district court denied the hospital’s motion for summary judgment, holding it was not “impossible” to provide the NP with a reasonable accommodation. The district court noted that since the NP’s post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered by proximity to two hospital employees, the hospital could have relocated the NP to a different position at a different location as an accommodation.