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Nelson v. Marymount Hospital8/17/2000
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED.
Plaintiff-appellant Barba court's order granting th defendant-appellee Marymount Hospital. The trial court found that there was no genuine issue of fact on the merits of the appellant's racial discrimination claim.
The appellant, an African-American, received her Associate of Science degree as an accredited records technician (ART) fromra Clow Nelson Cuyahoga Community College in 1974. In 1979, the appellant began working at Marymount in the medical records department and at various times worked as either a medical records analyst or a coder.Prior to her employment at Marymount, the appellant worked at other hospitals and at an agency as an ART performing analysis, abstraction and coding.
When the appellant began her employment in the medical records department at Marymount, the thirty-person department consisted of a director, an assistant director, the ARTs, and clerk-typists. Within the department, the duties of the ARTs were divided into two groups, one group performed the coding tasks and another group was designated as analysts. All coders and analysts were required to be certified ARTs. At this point the appellant did perform some ICD-8 coding.
In 1979, when the appellant was hired, there was only one other African-American in the department, Elaine Buford, however, Ms. Buford subsequently left the department. Another African- American, Kathleen Watson, who was an ART, was hired shortly after the appellant. A few years later Beverly Choo was hired as a general clerk.
The medical records department had a succession of directors, but only a few are pertinent for purposes of this appeal. In 1986, Ms. Robin Nelson became the director of the medical records department and, at some point, Ms. Cynthia Brenner was hired as her assistant. In 1991, Ms. Brenner succeeded Ms. Robin Nelson as the director. When Ms. Brenner left the employment of Marymount in 1997, she was succeeded by Mary Herbert, an African-American, who was certified as a Registered Records Administrator (RRA).
When Robin Nelson became the director of the medical records department, she believed that a high school diploma was sufficient to perform the analyst function. The requirement that analysts have ART certification was dropped and the appellant's title was changed to medical records technician (MRT). Since maintaining her ART certification was costly and no longer necessary for her employment, the appellant allowed her ART certification to lapse.
After changing the certification requirement, Robin Nelson hired as clerks three Caucasian women, Kathy Mauk, Christine Fixel and Lois Kasmer, who had only obtained high school diplomas. At some point between 1991 and 1993, a health data analyst (HDA) position was created when the Michael Pine project began. These three women were eventually given the HDA positions.
The Michael Pine project called for the abstracting of data from the medical record. The appellant, as the primary analyst in the department, believed she should have been chosen for a position on the project. The appellant was informed by Ms. Brenner that the criteria for obtaining the position was proficiency at analysis of the charts, the ability to abstract information from the charts, and fast typing. The appellant requested, but was denied this position based upon her typing skills.
The appellant stated in her deposition that she made known her interest in becoming a coder as early as 1988. In 1991, 1994, and 1996 she requested training as a coder. The appellant did not take any coding classes or classes in DRG or CPT from 1988 to 1996. When the appellant discussed becoming a coder with
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