Jamaleddin v. Oakland Physicians Medical Center, L.L.C. et al

Filing 25

ORDER Requiring the Parties to Submit Supplemental Briefs With Respect to Defendants' 18 MOTION for Summary Judgment. (Plaintiff's Supplemental Brief due by 11/4/2014. **SEE ORDER FOR ADDITIONAL DEADLINES**) Signed by District Judge Matthew F. Leitman. (Monda, H)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
AMEEN JAMALEDDIN,
Plaintiff,

Case No. 13-cv-12735
Hon. Matthew F. Leitman

v.
OAKLAND PHYSICIANS MEDICAL
CENTER, L.L.C. et al.,
Defendants.
_________________________________/
ORDER REQUIRING THE PARTIES TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTAL
BRIEFS WITH RESPECT TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT (ECF #18)
Plaintiff Dr. Ameen Jamaleddin (“Plaintiff”) filed this employment
discrimination and breach of contract action against his former employer,
Defendant Oakland Physicians Medical Center, L.L.C., and his former supervisor
Nikhil Hemady (collectively “Defendants”). (See Complaint, ECF #1.) On May
15, 2014, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. (See ECF #18.) The
Court held a hearing on Defendants’ motion on October 15, 2014. (See Docket.)
In their motion, Defendants argue that “[t]o establish a prima facie case of
employment discrimination, a plaintiff must demonstrate[,]” among other things,
that he was “treated differently than similarly situated non-protected employees.”
(Def.’s Br. at 12-13, Pg. ID 124-125.) (Emphasis added.) However, there appears

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to be some authority that a plaintiff may establish a prima facie case of
discrimination, at least in some contexts, without identifying a similarly-situated
individual outside of the relevant protected group who was treated more favorably
than him.1 See, e.g. Rioux v. City of Atlanta, Ga., 520 F.3d 1269, 1276-1277 (11th
Cir. 2008); Cf. Lindsay v. Yates, 578 F.3d 407, 416-418 (6th Cir. 2009). The Court
would benefit from additional briefing on this issue.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties shall submit
supplemental briefing, not to exceed ten pages, addressing the following:
1)

Whether Plaintiff can establish a prima facie case on his specific

employment discrimination claim without identifying a similarly-situated
individual outside of the relevant protected group who was treated more favorably
than him;
2)

If the answer to question (1) above is “yes,” then what must Plaintiff

show in order to establish a prima facie case on his specific employment
discrimination claim without identifying a similarly-situated individual outside of
the relevant protected group who was treated more favorably than him; and

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The Court is aware that a plaintiff in an employment discrimination case may also
establish a prima facie case of discrimination by showing, among other things, that
he was replaced by a person outside the protected class. This additional method of
establishing a prima facie case, however, is not relevant to Plaintiff’s claim
because it is undisputed that Plaintiff was not replaced, and the parties need not
discuss this alternative in their supplemental briefs.
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3)

Whether Plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence in this case to

establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination without identifying a
similarly-situated individual outside of the relevant protected group who was
treated more favorably than him.
While the parties are free to cite any authority in their supplemental briefs,
the Court is most interested in decisions from the United States Supreme Court, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and this Court.
Plaintiff shall file his supplemental brief within fourteen (14) days of this
Order. Defendants shall file their supplemental brief within fourteen (14) days
following the filing of Plaintiff’s brief.

s/Matthew F. Leitman
MATTHEW F. LEITMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated: October 21, 2014

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the
parties and/or counsel of record on October 21, 2014, by electronic means and/or
ordinary mail.
s/Holly A. Monda
Case Manager
[phone]

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