Porter v. Tri-Health, Inc.

Porter v. Tri-Health, Inc.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

This is an employment discrimination case. Plaintiff Kimberly Porter has sued TriHealth, Inc. alleging that TriHealth's termination of her employment violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), the parallel Ohio statute (O.R.C. § 4112), and the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").

This matter is before the Court on Defendant's motion for summary judgment. (Doc. 15). The Court previously heard oral argument on this motion and took the matter under advisement. (Doc. 29). After further study, the Court now issues the following Memorandum Opinion and Order.

Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Kim Porter ("Porter") alleges that her employer, Defendant TriHealth ("Defendant") discriminated against her on the basis of her disability (lupus)¹ and her race, and [*2]  also interfered with her FMLA rights.

Porter began working for Defendant at Defendant's Good Samaritan Hospital location in April 2009 as a sonographer in the Radiology Department. (Doc. 14, Porter Dep., 11.)² In addition to working regular shifts, Porter was assigned certain on-call responsibilities, which are at the center of this dispute. (Id. at 14.)

A. The On-Call Responsibility in the Radiology Department

Sonographers in the Radiology Department work regularly scheduled shifts during the hours the department is "open" (the department is staffed M-F, 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat., 8 a.m.-noon). However, to account for hospital emergencies, one sonographer must be "on-call" even when the department is closed. (Id. at 15.) Therefore, the sonographers are assigned "on-call responsibility" for the overnight hours for one day each week (5 p.m.-7 a.m.), every fourth or fifth³ weekend (12 p.m. Saturday through 7 a.m. Monday), and occasionally holidays (which are assigned through the rotation of sonographers). (Id. at 17.) Someone must be on-call during the hours the department is not staffed. (Doc. 13, Patten Dep., at 13, 18-19, 20.)

At relevant times, the sonography department consisted of four regular sonographers and one or [*3]  two "optional" sonographers. (Doc. 14, Porter Dep., at 13-14); (Doc. 13, Patten Dep., at 21-22.) An "optional" sonographer is generally hired to work in the department's weekend and on-call rotations and would also fill in if someone was sick or had a day off. (Doc. 17, Korblick Dep., at 9-10.) Optional sonographers were not scheduled for regular shifts, and so they worked "regular" hours only when they picked them up from someone else. (Id. at 10.) Dawn Patten ("Patten") supervised the sonographers and was Porter's direct boss.

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