Resident/Discrimination
Mawaldi v. St. Elizabeth Health Ctr., No. 4:04-CV-2146 (N.D.Ohio Aug. 8, 2005)
A resident physician
sued his program after his resignation from the program and subsequent failure
to gain admission to another residency program. The federal District Court
for the Northern District of Ohio found that his Title VII claim failed as
to the two individual supervisory physicians because a Title VII claim cannot
be maintained against an employee in his or her individual capacity. As to
the physician's Title VII claim against the hospital and program, the court
found that no hostile work environment existed because the conduct cited
by the physician was neither frequent nor severe. The court also found that
the physician did not receive disparate treatment based upon his national origin
because he failed to point to a single non-protected, similarly situated
person who was treated differently than him. He also failed to demonstrate
that he was treated differently based on his religion. The court additionally
found that the physician's claim of defamation failed because he failed to
demonstrate that any member of the program acted with malice when writing less
than exemplary reference letters for him. Finally, the court held that all
state claims for tortious interference with contract and intentional infliction
of emotional distress failed because the plaintiff did not bring forth evidence
to prove those claims.