Davis v. Johnson — Jan. 2017 (Summary)

MEDICAL STAFF APPOINTMENT – RETALIATION

Davis v. Johnson
No. 5:16-cv-262-DPM (E.D. Ark. Jan. 10, 2017)

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas granted a defendant hospital’s motion to dismiss a claim brought by a physician alleging that the hospital retaliated against him for filing a previous lawsuit, in not considering a request for restoration of his privileges.

A hospital terminated a physician’s privileges following patient care concerns.  The physician sued the hospital in federal court, alleging racial discrimination.  While the physician sought restoration of his hospital privileges, he filed another lawsuit against the hospital in state court.  At the pre-application stage, the hospital considered the fact that the physician had filed the second lawsuit as evidence that the physician was “unwilling” to collaborate with the hospital.  Citing this and the physician’s lack of recent experience, the hospital rejected the physician’s application.  The physician sued the hospital claiming retaliation.

The court rejected the physician’s retaliation claims, citing recent precedent from the 8^th Circuit.  A retaliation claim, the court held, “requires a plausible allegation that the [hospital’s] reliance on the lawsuit [is] the ‘but-for’ cause” for rejecting an application for staff privileges.  Because retaliation was not the sole motivation behind its decision to reject the physician’s application for staff privileges, the decision not to consider the application for renewal of privileges could not serve as the basis for a retaliation claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981.  The court declined to rule on the physician’s state law retaliation claim or Freedom of Information Act claim.