Case Analysis: Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, P.C. v. Wells
Christi Wall
Regis University
Case Analysis: Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, P.C. v. Wells
The 2003 discrimination dispute between Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates and Deborah Wells sparked an important debate surrounding the relationships between an employer and its employees. The case provides critical guidelines for businesses today regarding employment relationships and what constitutes an “employee”, as well as guidelines for legal obligations under federal antidiscrimination laws.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Deborah Wells, a disabled bookkeeper, worked 11 years for Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, P.C., an Oregon medical clinic with 14 employees and four physicians who owned the professional corporation and made up its board of directors (Crispin, 2003, p. 1). When the company terminated her, she filed suit under the claim that Clackamas Gastroenterology violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Crispin, 2003, p. 1). Clackamas Gastroenterology moved for summary judgment and asked the trial court to dismiss the case, …show more content…
Dowd & Dowd, Ltd., 736 F. 2d 1177, 1178 (1984) and came to the conclusion that the four doctors were more similar to partners in a partnership than to shareholders in a corporation, and thus were not employees (Crispin, 2003, p. 3). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the District Court, however, seeing “no reason to permit a professional corporation to secure the ‘best of both possible worlds’ by allowing it to assert its corporate status in order to reap the tax and civil liability advantages and to argue that it is like a partnership in order to avoid liability for unlawful employment discrimination” (Clackamas Gastroenterology vs. Wells,
Christi Wall
Regis University
Case Analysis: Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, P.C. v. Wells
The 2003 discrimination dispute between Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates and Deborah Wells sparked an important debate surrounding the relationships between an employer and its employees. The case provides critical guidelines for businesses today regarding employment relationships and what constitutes an “employee”, as well as guidelines for legal obligations under federal antidiscrimination laws.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Deborah Wells, a disabled bookkeeper, worked 11 years for Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, P.C., an Oregon medical clinic with 14 employees and four physicians who owned the professional corporation and made up its board of directors (Crispin, 2003, p. 1). When the company terminated her, she filed suit under the claim that Clackamas Gastroenterology violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Crispin, 2003, p. 1). Clackamas Gastroenterology moved for summary judgment and asked the trial court to dismiss the case, …show more content…
Dowd & Dowd, Ltd., 736 F. 2d 1177, 1178 (1984) and came to the conclusion that the four doctors were more similar to partners in a partnership than to shareholders in a corporation, and thus were not employees (Crispin, 2003, p. 3). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the District Court, however, seeing “no reason to permit a professional corporation to secure the ‘best of both possible worlds’ by allowing it to assert its corporate status in order to reap the tax and civil liability advantages and to argue that it is like a partnership in order to avoid liability for unlawful employment discrimination” (Clackamas Gastroenterology vs. Wells,