As reported in the New York Law Journal, a recent court ruling in the United District Court of the Eastern District of New York held that a voluntary physician cannot sue a Hospital under its bylaws, – in this matter Northwell Health, Inc. – for race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. §1981, (which protects equal rights and prohibits discrimination based on race, color or Ethnicity).
A cardiologist, also specializing in electrophysiology, sued Northwell alleging that she was not able to enforce her contract due to her race, in violation of §1981, of the federal law.
Per the plaintiff-physician’s allegations, she was an independent contractor with privileges to practice at the defendant’s hospitals. After one of the physician’s patients died, during what the peer review panel later confirmed, was a complex procedure with “known potential complications or risks of the procedure,” the plaintiff-physician was disciplined by the hospital system.
As a result, the physician’s ability to practice and perform surgeries was restricted and later was denied privileges at Southside Hospital and Lenox Hill Hospital.
The plaintiff, (an African American), alleged that the defendant hospital acted in a retaliatory manner after she complained of her treatment to the NYS Division of Human Rights, and that her privileges were revoked inconsistent with the hospital bylaws.
Northwell moved to dismiss, asserting the hospital bylaws do not provide a contractual right to support a claim under §1981.
Within the Court’s ruling, it was found that the plaintiff did not allege the existence of an employment relationship, as stated within her own filings, she was an independent contractor.
Next was a review of Northwell’s bylaws and if a hospital’s bylaws could support a claim under §1981. The standard from the Court of Appeals is that medical staff bylaws did not create any enforceable contractual rights UNLESS they contain “clear language” entitling a physician to sue for damages.
Following this standard, the Court determined that nothing within the bylaws was intended to create an enforceable contract. Following through, if a contract could not be established, then there was no right to the plaintiff to sue under §1981.
As the plaintiff had no other claim under federal law, the Court did not address the physician’s human rights claims arising under State or City law.
Respectfully submitted.
Schaum Law