Dillon v. Suffolk Cnty. Dep't of Health Servs.

917 F.Supp.2d 196

Patricia DILLON, Plaintiff,

v.SUFFOLK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES, Humayun Chaudhry, individually and as Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, and Vincent Geraci, individually and as Medical Programs Administrator of the Jail Medical Unit of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Defendants.

No. 07–cv–4722 (ADS)(WDW).

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Jan. 16, 2013.

The Law Offices of David S. Feather, by David S. Feather, Esq., of Counsel, Garden City, NY, for Plaintiff.

Office of the Suffolk County Attorney by Chris P. Termini, Assistant County Attorney, Hauppauge, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

This action was commenced by the Plaintiff Patricia Dillon, M.D., M.P.H. (“Dr. Dillon” or “the Plaintiff”) seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and attorneys' fees based on the Defendants (1) taking adverse employment actions against her, including but not limited to suspending her from employment without pay and bringing charges against her pursuant to New York State Civil Service Section 75, all in retaliation for her exercise of free speech, speaking as a citizen regarding a matter of public concern in complaining of consciously indifferent medical treatment of prisoners and possible prisoner abuse in the Riverhead Correctional Facility in Suffolk County, New York; and (2) taking adverse employment actions against Dr. Dillon in violation of New York Civil Service Law § 75–b, by retaliating against her for reporting illegal conduct and/or conduct that she reasonably believed constituted improper government action. Thus, Dr. Dillon asserts (1) a First Amendment retaliation claim and (2) a claim pursuant to the New York State whistleblower statute against the Defendants Suffolk County, Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, and Dr. Vincent Geraci.

Presently before the Court is the Defendants' motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff Patricia Dillon is a medical doctor who worked as a high-ranking public health employee of Suffolk County from 2001 through August 2007. On August 22, 2007, Dillon was transferred from her administrative public health position to Suffolk County's Riverhead Correctional Facility, where she was assigned to provide primary health care to individual prisoners. Dr. Dillon alleges that she was transferred by the newly appointed Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services, Defendant Humayun Chaudhry, D.O. (“Dr. Chaudry”). In her new position, she reported to Defendant Vincent Geraci, M.D. (“Dr. Geraci”), the Medical Programs Administrator of the Jail Medical Unit (“JMU”) of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. Dr. Dillon does not state why she was transferred to the Suffolk County Jail, and this transfer does not form the basis of any of her claims. According to the Plaintiff, she never received an oral or written description of her new assignment.

On September 4, 2007, Dr. Dillon met with Dr. Geraci to discuss her new assignment in the JMU. At that time, he explained to Dr. Dillon the nature and procedures of the JMU. The Plaintiff claims that during the course of this discussion, Dr. Geraci told her that JMU (1) routinely denied methadone to patients in methadone maintenance programs; (2) does not provide asthma inhalers to patients; and (3) delays starting patients on medications for several days after they arrive.

On the following day, September 5, 2007, Dr. Geraci requested that the Plaintiff assist him with chart reviews. While observing these charts, Dr. Dillon noted that several patients were receiving inadequate treatment. For example, one chart showed that a patient had received no treatment for broken ribs; not even pain medication. She raised her concerns with Dr. Geraci. In addition, on that same day, Dr. Dillon expressed her concern to Rick Kaufman, a social worker at JMU who serves as Dr. Geraci's second-in-command.

For the next day and a half, the Plaintiff was assigned to the file room and directed to help file charts and conduct chart reviews. In the course of doing so, she once again observed further evidence of inadequate medical treatment and possible prisoner abuse. Dr. Dillon then made photocopies of the relevant portions of these charts. Again, Dr. Dillon reported her concerns to Dr. Geraci, but her concerns were dismissed. In particular, he denied Dr. Dillon's suggestion that federal and/or state authorities be contacted to perform an outside audit of the JMU. On September 6, 2007, Dr. Dillon also called Paul Sabati no, the Chief Deputy County Executive, to discuss some of her concerns regarding the order and dispensation of pharmaceuticals at the JMU.

On September 7, 2007, Dr. Geraci told Dr. Dillon that because she was a female, she would need to start seeing OB/GYN patients. At that time, the Plaintiff explained that she did not have the necessary experience or training in gynecology and was also not properly credentialed to treat patients in this area. Nevertheless, Dr. Geraci told her that he would have one of the nurse practitioners train her in gynecology and would take care of filing the appropriate paperwork in order for her to receive the proper credentials.

On that same day or the following Monday, September 10, 2007, Dr. Dillon also expressed her concerns to John Heilbrunn, a contracts administrator with Suffolk County Health Services. She explained to him that she had been working at JMU for approximately one week and that she had learned that necessary medications were not being prescribed; that prescribed medications were not being administered to patients; that there was an unwritten policy requiring nurses to list unadministered medications as having been administrated by a fictitious nurse; that abnormal test results were removed from charts; that injured and acutely ill patients were being neglected and left untreated; that required diagnostic tests were not being performed; and that mistreatment of patients was being covered up.

On September 10, 2007, the Plaintiff reached out to the Defendant, Dr. Chaudhry, and informed him of her various concerns. She told Dr. Chaudhry that Dr. Geraci had instructed her that inmates are entitled to a less standard of medical care than the general population. The Plaintiff also notified Dr. Chaudhry that when patients at the JMU were not administered medication, the staff was instructed to note that the medication had been administrated by a fictitious nurse.

On that same day, Dr. Geraci received a questionnaire from the Suffolk County Director of Compliance, which listed various areas of competency that would be required for the Plaintiff to be credentialed to practice gynecology. Dr. Geraci instructed Dr. Dillon to sign the papers and attest that she was competent in these various areas, but she refused, stating that she did not know how to perform the listed procedures. In response, Dr. Geraci insisted that Dr. Dillon pursue whatever steps were necessary to receive the credential or submit a written refusal to see patients. Dr. Dillon then reiterated her concerns about the level of care at the JMU, and informed Dr. Geraci that she had contacted her union and they had advised her not to sign anything. Dr. Geraci then demanded that Dr. Dillon leave the JMU and she was escorted off the premises.

It appears that from September 4, through September 11, 2007, Dr. Dillon photocopied “problematic” charts and brought them to Dr. Geraci's attention.

On September 11, 2007, Dr. Dillon reported to work as she had on previous days, but was told by a file clerk that she needed to speak with Dr. Geraci before filing any charts. She was then called into Dr. Geraci's office, where Rick Kaufman was present. At this meeting, Dr. Dillon was told that she was being moved from the file room to an exam room, and she was handed a new protocol that forbade her from photocopying patient charts. After this meeting, she stopped photocopying any documents.

Later that day, Dr. Chaudhry responded to an earlier email from the Plaintiff regarding her concerns about the medical treatment in the JMU, and wrote to her that “as a reminder, Dr. Geraci is your immediate supervisor and it is correct to work with him in the chain of command to clarify any questions or confusion you may have about Jail Medical Unit (JMU) operations or your role in them.”

On September 13, 2007, shortly after the Plaintiff arrived at work, she was called into Dr. Geraci's office, where John Heilbrunn and three men in plainclothes with handcuffs on their person were waiting. Dr. Geraci demanded that the Plaintiff turn over any photocopies she had made of patients charts. Dr. Dillon failed to comply, and at that time Dr. Geraci informed her that she was being suspended for thirty days without pay. He then had the three men escort her off the premises with her hands held behind her back.

The Defendants have a completely different account of the events at the JMU. For instance, the Defendants assert that the Plaintiff was directed to perform OB/GYN procedures only because she explained she was afraid to be around male inmates as a result of a prior incident in her career. In addition, the Defendants contend that during the course of her one week in the JMU, Dr. Dillon refused to familiarize herself with the procedures employed in the JMU and refused to fill out appropriate credentialing materials which apparently were necessary as a pre-condition for her to see and treat inmates/patients. Finally, the Defendants claim that Dr. Dillon was observed photocopying inmate medical records, and upon inquiry from Dr. Geraci, Dr. Dillon untruthfully stated she was doing so as the request of Clare Maser, a Senior Clerk Typist assigned to the JMU. Both parties agree that Dr. Dillon refused to turn over photocopies of these...