Facts

Sam Chiles sued The Permanente Medical Group for claims relating to employment discrimination and harassment.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Chiles alleged that he became employed by the Permanente Medical Group in 2007 as an MRI Tech and that he was the youngest employee, and the only African American working in his department. Plaintiff further alleged that defendant and its agents discriminated against and harassed him by, among other things, denying him certain training that prevented him from qualifying for other job opportunities with defendant, refusing to allow him to work in a certain facility that other MRI Techs were allowed to work at, ridiculing him in from of patients and peers, purposefully hindering his lunch breaks due to overbooking his daily schedule, and constantly changing his work schedule at the last minute.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendant denied plaintiff's claims. Defendant argued that there were legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the alleged actions, including that plaintiff's work schedule was governed by a collective bargaining agreement, and that plaintiff was the least senior MRI Tech in his department.

Result

The court granted the Permanente Medical Group's motion for summary judgment. The court found, in part, that Chiles failed to prove that reasons for defendant's actions were based on race discrimination. The court also denied plaintiff's age discrimination claim because the Age Discrimination in Employment Act does not protect workers over 40 years old from preferential treatment toward older workers.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Nov. 13, 2012.