Labor Day: Wendys and Halliburton offer gays no job protection

Gary Hamner is a male nurse and a homosexual who
began working for St. Vincent Hospital in 1993.
In 1995, he became the charge nurse of a unit in
the St. Vincent Stress Center where he supervised
the staff, including nurses, clinicians and
technicians, and communicated with physicians to
coordinate patient care. Hamner's direct
supervisor was Marilyn Knoy, a Nursing Manager,
and Knoy's supervisor was Dr. Joseph Edwards, the
Medical Director of the same unit in the Stress
Center.

Because they worked in the same unit, Hamner and
Edwards had to communicate with each other to
provide patient care. According to Hamner, he and
Edwards had a poor working relationship. Edwards
would refuse to acknowledge or communicate with
Hamner, screamed at him during telephone
conversations, and harassed him by lisping at
him, flipping his wrists, and making jokes about
homosexuals.

On September 26, 1996, Hamner filed a written
grievance with the hospital about Edwards's
harassment. The parties dispute the basis of
Hamner's grievance, a copy of which is not in the
record. According to Hamner, he complained that
Edwards was harassing him because of his sex and
sexual orientation. The hospital alleges,
however, that Hamner's grievance was based only
on his belief that Edwards harassed him because
of his homosexuality. Shortly after Hamner filed
his grievance, Dr. Paul Lefkovitz, the Executive
Director of the Stress Center (and Edwards's
supervisor), investigated the grievance. After
concluding his investigation, Lefkovitz sent
Hamner a letter on October 15, 1996, stating that
he talked with Edwards about Hamner's complaints
about Edwards's "homophobia," and that Edwards
acknowledged his "irreverent" humor and that he
would be more mindful of Hamner's concerns in the
future.

Subsequently, the hospital fired Hamner on
October 18, 1996.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=case&no=993086