Russo v. New York Presbyterian Hosp. (Summary)

WRONGFUL TERMINATION/SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Russo v. New York Presbyterian Hosp., No. 09-CV-5334 MKB (E.D. N.Y. Sept. 23, 2013)

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted a hospital’s motion for summary judgment as to a former employee’s hostile work environment and retaliation claims. The employee, a perfusionist at the hospital, had been terminated for leaving the OR before a patient’s surgery was completed.

Over the years, based upon a series of interactions with a particular surgeon, the perfusionist complained that the surgeon treated her inappropriately because of her gender and that she felt harassed by him.  Following a particular incident with this surgeon in the OR, the employee filed a formal written complaint with the hospital, stating that she felt harassed.  The perfusionist did not, however, explicitly state sexual harassment, though she claimed she had raised this concern in a conversation with a hospital administrator.

The court held that the employee failed to sufficiently establish a federal Title VII hostile work environment claim because she could not show that her interactions with the surgeon were objectively severe or pervasive and that she was treated differently because of her gender.  The court determined that a reasonable jury could not find that the employee was treated less well than other employees because of her gender since the surgeon’s behavior was directed at the entire OR staff, which consisted of both genders.   The court reached the same conclusion as to the state hostile work environment claims because they are analyzed under the same standard as Title VII hostile work environment claims.

The court also dismissed the employee’s retaliation claims, finding that the employee could not establish that she was retaliated against because she engaged in protected activity. The court found that no reasonable jury could find that the employee was terminated because of her formal complaint against the surgeon since the hospital had legitimate reasons for terminating the employee:  (i) the employee had left the hospital before a surgery was complete, (ii) she had been warned and disciplined for similar behavior before, and (iii) the hospital came to its termination conclusion before the employee filed her written complaint with a hospital administrator.