FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (LN) — U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks denied Northwest Arkansas Hospitals’ motion for summary judgment Thursday, finding genuine disputes of material fact over whether the exclusion of Efrin Chavez from deliveries performed by Drs. Katie Beal and Amy Fry was discriminatory or based on patient privacy.
Chavez was hired as a part-time, noncertified surgical technician and delivery unit in December 2021. His first day at Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville was January 10, 2022. Within weeks, Drs. Beal and Fry began excluding him from their vaginal deliveries.
The doctors told the hospital’s then-Director of Women’s Services that they did not want a male employee present during deliveries because many patients were uncomfortable with non-essential male staff room. Dr. Beal told McClain they “have to have an all female staff because the majority of our patients are sexual assault victims.” McClain responded that she needed “to be careful here because this could be considered sexual discrimination.”
The first documented incident occurred January 18, 2022, when Dr. Fry told nursing staff that a long-time patient did not want any men assisting in her delivery and that Chavez would not be able to participate. Chavez entered the room anyway and was directed to leave. The patient submitted a written complaint January 26, stating Chavez “never left and stayed there during [her] whole delivery” after she “asked the nurse to have him leave.”
Dr. Fry forwarded the complaint to the hospital’s Market Risk Coordinator with a message stating: “Our concerns were dismissed as ‘sexual discrimination’ however there was no thought given to the comfort and respect we should provide to our female patients. Here is the first of many complaints that I expect will roll into your office.”
The hospital investigated and dismissed the complaint because its badge tracking system showed Chavez’s badge registered room only “one time,” concluding he did not enter the patient’s room again after she expressed concern.
EEOC sued under Title VII, alleging the doctors excluded Chavez because he is male. Under the McDonnell Douglas framework, the agency established a prima facie case, and the burden shifted to the hospital to offer a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason.
NWAH pointed to Chavez’s alleged unprofessional conduct, including that he “stared at patients during deliveries to the point of making them uncomfortable” and failed to respect patient privacy. The hospital also cited patient privacy interests as a basis for the exclusion.
But Brooks found the hospital’s own investigation undermined its reliance on unprofessional conduct. “A jury could reasonably conclude that NWAH’s own investigation clearing Chavez undermines its purported reliance on this unprofessional conduct as justification for allowing Drs. Beal and Fry to categorically exclude him from their patients’ deliveries,” Brooks wrote.
The court also noted that while patient privacy rights can justify excluding an employee from a particular patient’s room, NWAH allowed a blanket ban without pointing to Chavez’s conduct to justify it. Brooks observed the hospital did not argue for a bona fide occupational qualification defense.
Chavez remained for another six months until his resignation in July 2022. He assisted in vaginal deliveries for other OB-GYNs but was not allowed to assist with roughly half of vaginal deliveries performed by Drs. Beal and Fry.
The case is EEOC v. Northwest Arkansas Hospitals, LLC, No. 5:24-cv-5195 (W.D. Ark.).