Principle of american jurisprudence constrained

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Reference no: EM132226324

Summarization

O’Connor v. Davis 126 F.3d 112 (C.A. NY 1997)

Facts: Bridget O’Connor majored in social work at Marymount College, in Tarrytown, New York. As part of her curriculum she was required to perform 200 hours of field work at a hospital in New York. Dr. James Davis worked as a psychiatrist at the same hospital at which O’Connor was interning. After she had interned for two days, Dr. Davis referred to O’Connor as “Miss Sexual Harassment”—a term which he later explained was a compliment because O’Connor was attractive and was likely to be the target of sexual harassment. O’Connor complained about the comments and was instructed by the hospital’s supervisor to “ignore him.” After the complaint, Dr. Davis continued with the comments. He told O’Connor one morning she looked tired and that she and her boyfriend must have had “a good time last night.” On another day, Dr. Davis suggested that he and O’Connor should participate in an orgy. Finally, on a separate occasion, Dr. Davis told her to take her clothes off during a meeting and explained to her that you always take your clothes off when you go to the doctor’s office. O’Connor complained to the school and was allowed to leave the hospital to complete her internship requirement at another hospital. Later O’Connor brought suit against the hospital alleging sexual harassment by Dr. Davis.

Issue: Whether, as a college intern, O’Connor is able to bring suit for workplace sexual harassment of an employee?

Decision: No.

Reasoning: To recover under Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits gender discrimination including sexual harassment] sexual harassment, one must be an employee of the organization one is attempting to hold liable under the Act. When Congress uses the term “employee” without defining it with precision, courts should presume that Congress had in mind “the conventional master-servant relationship as understood by the common-law agency doctrine.” A prerequisite to considering whether an individual is one or the other under common-law agency principles is that the individual have been hired in the first instance. That is, only where a “hire” has occurred should the common-law agency analysis be undertaken. Where no financial benefit is obtained by the purported employee from the employer, no “plausible” employment relationship of any sort can be said to exist because although “compensation by the putative employer to the putative employee in exchange for his services is not a sufficient condition, . . . it is an essential condition to the existence of an employer-employee relationship.” It is un- contested that O’Connor received from Rockland no salary or other wages, and no employee benefits such as health insurance, vacation, or sick pay, nor was she promised any such compensation. Because the absence of either direct or indirect economic remuneration or the promise thereof is undisputed in this case, we agree with the district court that O’Connor was not a Rockland employee within the meaning of Title VII and thus that her discrimination claim under that statute must fail. We conclude by saying that we are not unsympathetic for O’Connor’s situation. We recognize that her success was dependent on completing her internship; however, it is for Congress not the court to provide a remedy.

In the O'Connor case, please discuss the following:

1a. Why didn't the U.S. Supreme Court provide an equitable remedy for Ms. O'Connor?

1b. What fundamental principle of American jurisprudence constrained the Court's decision?

1c. From an ethical and PR point of view, if you were the CEO of the hospital, how would you have responded to Ms. O'Connor's complaint?

Reference no: EM132226324

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