Christian v. AHS Tulsa, No. 10-5020 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff Michelle Christian appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Defendant AHS Tulsa Regional Medical Center (Hospital), on her Title VII sex discrimination claims. Plaintiff described four situations where her immediate supervisor made sexually charged comments, and two situations where he leaned against her while she was at a computer or copy machine. Plaintiff brought this action against the Hospital, raising claims of hostile work environment, retaliation, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Hospital successfully moved for summary judgment on each of the claims. The district court made two rulings relevant to this appeal: (1) Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination because no rational jury could conclude that the conduct "however obnoxious" was pervasive enough to have altered the work environment; and (2) the Hospital asserted an affirmative defense that its investigation into the situations was reasonable. The Tenth Circuit agreed with the district court that Plaintiff was unable to demonstrate the existence of a genuine dispute of material fact with regard to the Hospital's affirmative defense. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the lower court's decision.
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