By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 12, 2015//
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Employment – Race discrimination
Where a doctor had two malpractice suits against him, not covered by insurance, and had been placed on probation during his residency, a hospital’s refusal to give him staff privileges was not discrimination.
“This case is unlike Patrick, where the defendants offered a nonspecific and unexplained reason for the employment decision—simply that the plaintiff was ‘not sufficiently suited’ for the position. BDCH has articulated clear, specific, and detailed concerns over Dr. Simpson’s application for medical staff privileges. Several of the concerns were documented in the Credentials Committee’s September 24 meeting notes and corroborated by the Committee’s requests for additional information from Simpson and the state licensing board. And Dr. Eric Miller discussed many of the concerns with Simpson when Miller called Simpson to give him a ‘heads-up’ about the Committee’s concerns. This case also is unlike Abrams where there was sufficient evidence other than the ‘fit in’ comments to permit a reasonable inference that the comments were a reference to the plaintiff’s race.”
Affirmed.
14-2269 Simpson v. Beaver Dam Community Hospitals, Inc.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Tinder, J.