Opinion ID: 503439
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hard Facts

Text: 3 Appellant was employed by Columbia as Medical Director of Harlem Hospital Center (Hospital), under an affiliation agreement with the Hospital, from October, 1980 until his employment was involuntarily ended on June 30, 1983. Before his appointment, he had held faculty positions at the University of Hawaii and Boston University, where he had taught in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health; and he had had various international positions in the area of public health. As Medical Director, he had responsibility for administering the professional services at the Hospital. This included responding to the administrative needs of the directors of the medical departments; coordinating Columbia's responsibilities under an affiliation agreement (between the University and the Hospital) with the Executive Director of Harlem Hospital and with other officials of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation; and assisting the administrative medical training programs at the Hospital. 4 Appellant contends that Columbia terminated him in retaliation by Columbia for his criticism of the hiring procedures used by Columbia to fill a newly-created position--Assistant Director of Administrative Services--in the affiliation program. In September 1982, after approval of the creation of the Assistant Director position, and its advertisement, interviews were held and Ms. Ellen Giesow was selected. Ms. Giesow was already employed as the representative of Columbia's personnel office assigned to the Hospital under the affiliation agreement. 5 On October 8, 1982, at appellant's request, Dr. Bernard Challenor, who was then Associate Dean for Hospital Affairs at Columbia and Dr. Manoharan's immediate supervisor, wrote to Columbia's Director of Equal Employment Opportunity objecting on affirmative action grounds to the selection of Ms. Giesow. Among the objections raised in the letter was that the Medical Director (Dr. Manoharan) had not interviewed candidates for the position. The letter also implied that the Medical Director expressed dissatisfaction with the selection of Ms. Giesow and with the manner in which she had been recruited. 6 Columbia then redid the search and selection process for the Assistant Director position, allowing Drs. Challenor and Manoharan to interview the candidates, but assigning the authority for the final selection to Associate Dean Cheryl Rice. Once again, on June 27, 1983, Ms. Giesow was selected. Three days later, when appellant learned of Ms. Giesow's appointment, he visited Dr. Thomas Q. Morris, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia, to object to the selection. Dr. Morris, changing the subject, advised appellant that a decision had been made to lay him off because of a restructuring of the affiliation contract and Dr. Morris handed him a letter of discharge. Appellant asked Dr. Morris to withhold the letter until the next day when he said he would return. Appellant did not return until July 11th when he was again given the letter. 7 After his termination from the Medical Director's position, appellant continued to receive his regular salary until September 30, 1983; and until the spring of 1984, he continued to teach at the Columbia School of Public Health, but at sharply reduced pay. 8 After satisfying the appropriate administrative prerequisites with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the New York State Division of Human Rights, Dr. Manoharan filed an employment discrimination suit against Columbia, in United States District Court, claiming retaliatory discharge in violation of section 704(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following a four-day trial before Judge Goettel, judgment was entered for Columbia.