A Cleveland-based Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani trial team, led by Partners David Campbell and Timothy Chai, secured a complete defense verdict on behalf of a major academic healthcare system in an employment discrimination lawsuit brought by a longtime physician employee.
The plaintiff, a radiologist with over three decades of service, alleged that the hospital’s compensation structure violated Ohio’s Equal Pay Act (R.C. 4111.17) and state age discrimination laws (R.C. 4112.02), asserting both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories. The plaintiff claimed that younger, less experienced colleagues received disproportionately higher raises under the system, and that the employer’s failure to adjust compensation based on seniority or longevity constituted unlawful discrimination.
The GRSM team defended the case through a multi-day jury trial in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, demonstrating that the client’s physician compensation model was neutral, non-discriminatory, and applied equally based solely on academic rank and medical specialty. The plaintiff himself acknowledged under oath that, as of 2021, he and all similarly ranked colleagues within his specialty were receiving identical base salaries. The defense also discredited the plaintiff’s expert economist, highlighting fatal flaws in the statistical analysis that underpinned his disparate impact theory.
At the close of the plaintiff’s case-in-chief, the trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of the defense. The plaintiff appealed, but the Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in full, concluding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to meet the legal standard for wage or age discrimination.
This result reflects GRSM’s strength in navigating complex employment litigation, particularly where compensation systems, statistical claims, and institutional policy are at issue.
Learn more about GRSM’s Employment Law and Trial practices.