Saketkoo v. Tulane Univ. Sch. of Med.

510 F.Supp.3d 376

Lesley Ann SAKETKOO, MD, MPH

v.TULANE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, et al.

CIVIL ACTION No. 19-12578

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

Signed December 31, 2020

Jessica Michelle Vasquez, Vasquez Law Office, Abigail Frank Gerrity, Melanie Lockett, Michael Richard Allweiss, Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver, LLP, New Orleans, LA, Douglas Brian Lipsky, Pro Hac Vice, Lipsky Lowe LLP, New York, NY, for Lesley Ann Saketkoo.

Julie Durel Livaudais, Jesse Gerard Frank, Rosalie Margaret Haug, Chaffe McCall LLP, Benjamin Melvin Castoriano, Leslie Weill Ehret, Frilot L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund.

SECTION I

ORDER & REASONS

LANCE M. AFRICK, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is defendant Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund's ("Tulane") motion¹ for summary judgment on plaintiff Lesley Ann Saketkoo, MD, MPH's ("Saketkoo") remaining claims. Saketkoo opposes² the motion, and Tulane has filed a reply in response to Saketkoo's opposition.³ For the reasons below, Tulane's motion is granted as to all of Saketkoo's remaining claims.

I. INTRODUCTION AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case arises from Saketkoo's employment at Tulane University's School of Medicine (the "School"), interactions between her and a supervisor during her time at the School, the eventual non-renewal of her contract, and Tulane's alleged efforts to prevent her from obtaining employment after she left her paid role at the School. Saketkoo was first hired as an Associate Professor at the School for a one-year term commencing on December 1, 2014;⁴ her contract was subsequently renewed for one-year terms through 2019.⁵ Saketkoo was initially hired into the Allergy and Immunology Section at the request of its Chief, Dr. Laurianne Wild ("Wild"),⁶ but transferred during 2017 to the Pulmonary Section ("Pulmonary"), headed by Dr. Joseph Lasky ("Lasky").⁷

The parties agree that Saketkoo has four claims remaining: an Equal Pay Act claim⁸ and three claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act: gender discrimination,⁹ retaliation, and hostile work-environment. Saketkoo's claims arise primarily from her experience working with and for Lasky. The record in this case is extensive, and the briefing is lengthy.¹⁰ For ease of reading and clarity, the Court will limit its recitation of the facts to those necessary to resolve each of Saketkoo's claims.¹¹

Saketkoo's Interactions with Lasky

Saketkoo alleges that Lasky verbally abused her on numerous occasions and that, during one incident, he shook his finger at her in a way that made her fearful. She argues that this was gender-based because he treated her and other women this way but was not similarly abusive of men. She does not allege that he used gendered language with her or sexually abused her. In her opposition, relying largely on her own declaration and complaint,¹² Saketkoo describes five specific interactions with Lasky over the course of her time at Tulane that form the basis of her claim. She also states that "[i]n response to work-related questions, Lasky would frequently yell at and get close to [her] in a physically threatening manner, raising his finger in her face, demeaning statements [sic] such as ‘stop it! just [sic] stop it now! Do you understand? Just stop it!’ " She adds that she "repeatedly asked Lasky not to speak to her in that way and suggested that he needed to find other ways of communicating. Lasky, however, persisted[,]" and that "Lasky's conduct impeded her ability to access meaningful job-related information."¹³ Saketkoo describes the incidents between her and Lasky as follows:¹⁴

In late 2015, Saketkoo presented potential opportunities for improvements of patient care and revenue at the TMC Lung Center. Lasky angrily cut her off and[,] belittling her[,] said that it was "not her place" to discuss the needs of the Center. Doing so, Lasky interfered with improvement upon the quality of care Saketkoo was able to provide to her patients.¹⁵

On another occasion, in 2016, when Lasky and Saketkoo were convened in a small physician work room at Tulane clinics, she inquired about how funds from her pharmaceutical company sponsored trials would be applied to support her salary. Lasky suddenly and frighteningly flew off the handle, with his arms flailing angrily towards her he yelled, "I'm sick of this! All this questioning! Do you think I'm cheating you?[ ]" Lasky's conduct was intimidating and made Saketkoo fearful.¹⁶

In 2017, while in the clinic together, Saketkoo and Lasky were discussing a mutual patient. Lasky was hovering over Saketkoo as she was documenting a patient's heart catheterization results. Lasky had roughly calculated ... an important value that determines that course of treatment for a patient ... as a ballpark figure in his head. Saketkoo began calculating the actual ... value to properly document and to inform the treatment plan. Lasky yelled at Saketkoo angrily: "What are you doing? Stop it! You don't need to calculate it, I already told you what it was!" Lasky remained hovering over Saketkoo. Saketkoo was too shocked and intimidated to continue the patient's calculation with Lasky so close in physical proximity. She had to wait to complete her duties when Lasky was not around. Lasky does not interfere with male physician's [sic] patient care or treat male faculty in this manner.¹⁷

In late Summer 2018, Lasky ridiculed research that Dr. Saketkoo was undertaking to study more efficient models of targeted muscle training ... including the precise and fairly rapid conditioning that occurs in dance training. Lasky mockingly asked if Dr. Saketkoo had "danced away scleroderma." When Dr. Saketkoo started to explain the research to re-direct Lasky's aggression and condescension, Lasky interrupted Saketkoo harshly [sic] chided her, while pointing his finger at her: "We don't need you thinking! We need you working."¹⁸

[On] September 13, 2018, while Saketkoo and Lasky were walking to his office for a meeting together, Lasky berated Saketkoo for not informing him that she was teaching an honors undergraduate class at Tulane University .... Lasky exploded and moved close to her, red-faced, trembling and driving his pointed finger into her face yelling: "if I say I wasn't told about something, that's the end of it and I wasn't told about it!" .... Lasky was unrelenting and continued yelling at her as she stood speechless: "Do you understand? Stop it! You just stop it now! Stop it now!" Saketkoo began to slowly move away from him stating that she could not meet with him now. To assuage him, she promised to meet with him when he calmed down and collected himself. Lasky hollered that they had to meet "NOW!" Still gesturing with his pointed finger toward her face, Lasky continued, "we have things that need to be talked about!" Saketkoo was fearful of being physically hurt by Lasky. She tried to be calm as she moved further back from him and told him she would only meet with him now if his supervisor was also present.¹⁹

Saketkoo's Response to Lasky's Conduct

Saketkoo alleges that she complained about Lasky's abusive conduct and stood up to him during the September 13 incident. In her opposition, Saketkoo claims that she "dared to object and to refuse to continue to endure Lasky's harassment."²⁰ She adds that she "did not cower to his physically threatening and discriminatory behavior."²¹ At no point in her opposition or her declaration does Saketkoo argue that her comments to Lasky indicated that she believed his conduct was discriminatory. Saketkoo also argues that, immediately following the September 13 incident, Lasky began an active campaign to "divorce" his Section from Saketkoo. As discussed infra , the Court will assume this is true, as it does not support a claim of retaliation.

Saketkoo also claims that, shortly after the incident, she "contacted [Tulane's Office of Institutional Equity ("OIE")] to complain about the toxic hostile environment and ... specifically named Dr. Lasky on the call."²² She does not allege that, during that call, she suggested that Lasky's treatment of her occurred because of her sex.

In her opposition, Saketkoo also alleges that, during 2018, she "complained of Lasky's abuses" to Dr. Tonette Krousel-Wood, Dr. QiQi Zhou, and Dr. Laurianne Wild.²³ She alleges in her declaration that she told Krousel-Wood that "Lasky was abusive and created a toxic work environment and was out of control" and that she "informed" Zhou "about Lasky's abusive treatment of me and the hostile work environment he created."²⁴ She does not allege that during any of these conversations she identified particular conduct that she believed was the result of her sex. And, in a deposition, Saketkoo indicated that she did not "report the [September 2018] incident to ... anyone in Tulane Administration until the OIE interview."²⁵

Saketkoo offers more detail about her conversations with Wild, stating in her declaration that, following the September 13 incident, she "reported what [Lasky] did and his continuing abusive treatment, which I related to her on prior occasions."²⁶ She adds that, following her initial outreach to OIE, Wild "advised [her] not to pursue [her complaints against Lasky] with OIE, and instead to pursue alternate routes through the medical school ‘chain of command’ " lest she suffer retaliation.²⁷

Finally, on February 15, 2019, Lee Hamm ("Dean Hamm"), the School's dean, informed Saketkoo that her contract as an Associate Professor would not be renewed for the coming year.²⁸ The parties agree that, during the meeting, Saketkoo informed Dean Hamm of her belief that Lasky had discriminated against her and other women on the basis of gender and implored him to investigate the matter.²⁹ Subsequently, Saketkoo participated in a formal investigation by OIE.³⁰ Later, Saketkoo sought and received a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC.³¹

Saketkoo's Performance at Tulane and Tulane's Non-Renewal of her...