Caesar v. Shinseki

887 F.Supp.2d 289

Patti L. CAESAR, Plaintiff,

v.Eric K. SHINSEKI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 10–40005–FDS.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

Jan. 25, 2012.

Michael P. Sheridan, Law Offices of Michael P. Sheridan, Leominster, MA, for Plaintiff.

Christine J. Wichers, United States Attorney's Office, Boston, MA, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SAYLOR, District Judge.

This is an action alleging unlawful employment discrimination on the basis of age and gender. Plaintiff Patti L. Caesar was employed as a staff psychologist at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Bedford, Massachusetts (“VAMC”). She alleges that she was unlawfully terminated from her position because of her gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e–2(a)(1) (“Title VII”), and because of her age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1) (“ADEA”).

Defendant Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, has moved for summary judgment in his favor. For the reasons described below, the motion will be granted.

I. Factual Background

The facts are stated in the light most favorable to the plaintiff unless otherwise noted.

Patti L. Caesar, Ph.D., began working for the VAMC on June 24, 2007, as a part-time staff psychologist. She was 52. (Pl. Dep. at 8–9). Charles Drebing, Ph.D., the Chief of Psychology at the VAMC, and Lawrence Herz, M.D., a psychiatrist who served as Director of the Mental Health Clinic and of the Telemental Health Initiative, interviewed her for the position. ( Id. at 13; Drebing Decl., ¶ 2; Herz Decl., ¶ 2). She was hired by Dr. Drebing; Dr. Herz approved the hire. (Pl. Dep. at 13; Herz Decl., ¶ 4, 10).¹

Dr. Caesar was the first of three people hired to develop and run the Telemental Health Initiative (“THI”) program, through which the VAMC would provide outpatient mental-health treatment remotely to veterans. ( Id. at 21–23; Herz Decl., ¶ 2). The other members of the team were a psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Smith, and a licensed social worker, Linda Cone. (Pl. Dep. at 21–22; Herz Decl., ¶ 5).

Dr. Smith was hired in August. He was the administrative leader for the team and was primarily responsible for psychopharmacology; he also provided some clinical psychotherapy for veterans and was assigned to conduct an additional 20 hours of research per week. (Pl. Dep. at 23–24; Drebing Decl., ¶ 5; Herz Decl., ¶ 7). He was provided an office and three hours of paid administrative time. (Pl. Dep. at 21–22, 177; Herz Decl., ¶ 5, 7).² Dr. Caesar and Ms. Cone primarily conducted psychotherapy sessions for veterans. (Pl. Dep. at 21–23; Drebing Decl., ¶ 5; Herz Decl., ¶ 7). All three worked under Dr. Herz and Dr. Drebing and were expected to work 20 hours per week on the THI program. (Pl. Dep. at 21–22). Dr. Caesar understood the team to be a non-hierarchical, multi-disciplinary team, organized to develop and provide “telemental” health services. ( Id. at 22).

During the initial stages of her employment, Dr. Caesar spent approximately 10 hours per week developing the THI program. ( Id. at 41). The THI program became operational in February 2008, about eight months after she began work; at that point, she began to see a few veterans for outpatient therapy through the program. ( Id. at 21, 36). She was also assigned to supervise a post-doctoral student.³

A. The 15–Session Requirement

The primary measure of the productivity of VAMC psychologists who perform outpatient therapy is the number of patient treatment sessions, or clinical “encounters,” they perform. (Drebing Decl. ¶ 7; see also Pl. Dep., at 42). Management sets individualized goals for each psychologist depending upon the level of their other responsibilities, such as inpatient therapy, additional research, and administrative tasks. ( Id. at ¶ 8). Dr. Caesar's goal was set at 15 encounters per week. ( Id. at ¶ 8; see also Pl. Dep., at 63, 154).

Dr. Drebing maintained typed notes, which he referred to as “Reports of Contact,” documenting his meetings with various VA employees. ( See Drebing Decl. ¶ 22–23, 27, 30).⁴ In one of those reports, Dr. Drebing noted that he met with Dr. Caesar on October 19, 2007, and explained that she was expected to log around 15 face-to-face clinical hours per week, which included individual and group meetings. ( Id., Ex. 1, at 245). Dr. Caesar does not recall being told of this requirement during the October meeting, but does remember discussing the need to get her caseload up. (Pl. Dep., at 46–48, 141).

During the October 19 meeting with Dr. Drebing, Dr. Caesar stated that she had lower productivity primarily because of tension between her supervisors, Dr. Herz and Dr. Drebing. (Pl. Dep., at 38; 43–48; 81–82). While Dr. Drebing wanted her to get her caseload up, Dr. Herz wanted to keep her available for the THI program. ( Id. at 47). All patient referrals went through Dr. Herz and required his approval; on multiple occasions, he declined to give her referrals in an effort to limit her caseload to short-term therapy clients. ( Id. at 43–48; 82). Dr. Caesar did not believe that anyone was at fault in this situation, but felt that she was caught in the middle and, thus, was not sure what her priorities should be. ( Id. at 83–85).⁵ That situation, she testified, prevented her from increasing her caseload. ( Id. at 164).

Dr. Caesar testified that she learned in December 2007 that her supervisors expected that she conduct at least 15 patient-therapy sessions per week. ( Id. at 41–42, 63–69, 155). Dr. Drebing raised the issue of the 15–session requirement, at most, on two other occasions, but she never understood the requirement to be a deal-breaker that would lead to termination. ( Id. at 70–71, 139).

During her employment, Dr. Caesar averaged 7.3 encounters per week. (Def.'s Resp. to Pl. Interrog. No. 12). Between February 2008 and her termination on June 20, 2008, she averaged 10.6 encounters per week. ( Id.;see also Pl. Dep., at 305–08).

B. Evidence of Alleged Discrimination

1. Treatment of Women at the VAMC

During her employment at the VAMC, Dr. Caesar regularly had to work weekends to complete her paperwork and other administrative assignments. ( Id. at 65). When doing so, she often saw other women working in the office as well. ( Id.). She testified that this was normal and reflected a culture of women working harder than men at the VAMC. ( Id.).

At one point, when she was not particularly busy, Dr. Herz and Dr. Drebing asked Dr. Caesar to assist Douglas Bitman, Ph.D., in his capacity as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator. ( Id. at 191–92). Dr. Bitman asked her to fold pamphlets and helped him organize his desk. ( Id.). She found this very insulting, as she thought she would be helping him in a more professional capacity. ( Id. at 192).

Dr. Caesar also testified that she had a conversation with Dr. Drebing where he told her that Dr. Dolly Sadow “thinks she is a family therapist, but she's not.” ( Id. at 188–89). She stated that she felt that Dr. Drebing said this as a way of complementing her abilities but that it kept her and Dr. Sadow apart. ( Id.). She also testified about a conversation where Dr. Herz told her that he did not like a VA employee named Donna Cabral. ( Id. at 184–85). She interpreted this comment to mean that Dr. Herz did not like Ms. Cabral because he did not like working with women in power. ( Id.).

2. The Student Training Program

Dr. Caesar also participated in a training program in which psychologists were assigned to supervise at least one post-doctoral student or doctoral intern. ( Id. at 277–78; Drebing Decl. ¶ 10). Richard Amodio, Ph.D., supervised the training program. (Pl. Dep., at 130; Amodio Decl. ¶ 1). Dr. Caesar was assigned to supervise one intern; Tu Ngo, Ph.D., was also assigned to supervise the same person. (Pl. Dep., at 254). David Kalman, Ph.D., was the intern's preceptor. ( Id. at 250).

Over time, Dr. Ngo and Dr. Kalman perceived that the intern was experiencing significant performance problems; Dr. Caesar, however, disagreed. (Drebing Decl., ¶ 23; see also Wichers Decl., Ex. D). As a result, tension developed between the three, and they became increasingly polarized. Dr. Caesar expressed that concern to Dr. Amodio. (Pl. Dep., at 130; Drebing Decl., ¶ 23). She also expressed the view to Dr. Bitman that Dr. Kalman's treatment of the intern amounted to a “witch hunt.” (Pl. Dep., at 120, 122–24; Wichers Decl., Ex. D; see also Drebing Decl., Ex. A, at 235).

As tensions rose, Dr. Amodio and Dr. Ngo expressed their concerns about Dr. Caesar's behavior to Dr. Drebing. (Drebing Decl., Ex. A, at 236, 239, 241). Specifically, Dr. Amodio expressed frustration as to Dr. Caesar's failure to see the intern's performance problems and the manner in which she communicated her disagreement on that issue. ( Id. at 239, 241; Amodio Decl., ¶ 2). Dr. Amodio requested that Dr. Caesar not be involved in the student training program the following year. (Drebing Decl. Ex. A, 239, 241; Amodio Decl., ¶ 2). Dr. Ngo told Dr. Drebing that Dr. Caesar had stated that she had no respect for Dr. Kalman, and used “very strong language” when speaking about the situation regarding the intern. (Drebing Decl. Ex. A, at 236; Ngo Decl., ¶ 2). Dr. Ngo expressed concern that there was a split among the intern's supervisors, and noted that Dr. Caesar had not attended either the meetings of the supervisors when discussing this issue or the meetings of the psychology training committee. (Drebing Decl. Ex. A, at 236; Ngo Decl., ¶ 2).

Dr. Caesar testified that she wanted to attend the training committee meeting, as she felt disconnected from her colleagues, but that she could not attend because Dr. Drebing would not give her workload credit for the meetings. Instead, she met with a patient when the meetings were scheduled. (Pl. Dep., at 156–57). As a result, she was the only...