Pointdujour v. Mount Sinai Hospital
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Marie Carmen Pointdujour appeals from an award of summary judgment entered in favor of her former employer, Mount Sinai Hospital (“Mount Sinai”), for retaliatory discharge in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2-2000e-17; see id. § 2000e-3(a) (prohibiting employer from retaliating against employee “for opposing any practice” that itself constitutes employment discrimination).
Title VII retaliation claims are analyzed under the same three-part burden-shifting framework applicable to Title VII discrimination claims. See Feingold v. New York, 366 F.3d 138, 157 (2d Cir. 2004); Coffey v. Dobbs Int’l Servs., Inc., 170 F.3d 323, 326 (2d Cir. 1999). Like the district court, we assume that Pointdujour’s assertions that she was suspended and ultimately discharged after complaining about
Mount Sinai submits that it terminated Pointdujour not in retaliation for her harassment complaint but because she refused to participate in its Employee Assistance Program (“EAP”). Even when the facts are viewed liberally and in the light most favorable to the pro se plaintiff, see Graham v. Henderson, 89 F.3d 75, 79 (2d Cir. 1996); Burgos v. Hopkins, 14 F.3d 787, 790 (2d Cir. 1994), it is clear that Pointdujour presented her harassment complaint in a sufficiently unprofessional and disruptive manner to raise concerns about the propriety of her continuing to work in the hospital emergency room. Mount Sinai did not, however, propose to terminate her employment or even transfer her to another department. Rather, it requested that, before returning to the emergency room, she participate in the EAP or, at least, secure confirmation from the EAP that she was psychologically fit to resume her responsibilities. Only when Pointdujour failed to provide proper documentation from the EAP did Mount Sinai terminate her employment.
Pointdujour concedes that she did not participate in the EAP.
The January 23, 2004 judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of defendants is hereby AFFIRMED.
. In her reply brief, Pointdujour asserts that she also appeals the district court’s award of summary judgment in favor of hospital supervisor Laura Giles. See Appellant Reply Br. at 3. As a rule, we will not consider an argument raised for the first time in a reply brief, even by a pro se civil litigant. See Graham v. Henderson, 89 F.3d 75, 82 (2d Cir. 1996). In any event, this part of Pointdujour’s appeal is plainly meritless as a matter of law because Title VII liability applies to employers, not to supervisors in their individual capacities. See Tomka v. Seiler Corp., 66 F.3d 1295, 1313 (2d Cir. 1995).
. In her deposition, Pointdujour testified that she was not informed that, if she participated in the EAP, she could return to work. See Pointdujour Dep. at 133. Yet, in this respect, her deposition contradicted her earlier unemployment insurance hearing testimony before a New York administrative law judge, in which she stated, under oath, that Giles had discussed the EAP with her and told her that, if she refused to participate in the program, she could not return to work. See Hr’g Tr. at 58-60. "[A] party opposing summary judgment does not create a triable issue by denying [its] previously sworn statements.” Heil v. Santoro, 147 F.3d 103, 110 (2d Cir. 1998); see also Trans-Orient Marine Corp. v. Star Trading & Marine, Inc., 925 F.2d 566, 572 (2d Cir. 1991). Regardless, "the ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff.” Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 143, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (quoting Texas Dep’t of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981)), and Pointdujour’s deposition testimony alone does not render Mount Sinai’s legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for terminating her false, much less establish that Mount Sinai’s real motivation was retaliation. In fact, Pointdujour conceded that, even if she had known that she could return to work if she participated in the EAP, she nevertheless would have refused to do so. See Pointdujour Dep. at 155-56.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Marie Carmen POINTDUJOUR v. The MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL and Laura Giles
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published