Case: EEOC v. Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine ("The Heart Center")

7:03-cv-00123 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

Filed Date: Aug. 26, 2003

Closed Date: 2007

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Case Summary

In August 2003, the El Paso Area Office of the EEOC filed this suit against the Associates of Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine, P.A. (d/b/a The Heart Center and Heart Place Hospital, L.P.) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas alleging discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the defendant subjected the charging party, a female employee, to a hostile work environment consisting of verbal and physical sexual harassment. In addition, the defendant retaliated against the charging party by terminating her after she complained of the discrimination. After some scheduling orders, the parties settled in September 2004 through an agreed judgment. The judgment had a duration of three years and required the defendant to: provide the charging party with a neutral employment reference, expunge her personnel files of all mentions to the charge of discrimination, and pay her $155,000. The decree was entered in 2004 and scheduled to last 2007. No further docket entries exist, so the case is closed.

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Summary Authors

Michele Marxkors (6/27/2007)

Clearinghouse (12/26/2018)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
7:03-cv-00123	Docket EEOC v. Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine	Sept. 23, 2004	Sept. 23, 2004 Docket
1 7:03-cv-00123	Complaint EEOC v. Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine	Aug. 26, 2003	Aug. 26, 2003 Complaint
22 7:03-cv-00123	Agreed Judgment EEOC v. Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine	Sept. 23, 2004	Sept. 23, 2004 Settlement Agreement

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Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Under the Radar: Visibility and the Effects of Discrimination Lawsuits in Small and Large Firms Carly Knight, Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev	Research on how discrimination lawsuits affect corporate diversity has yielded mixed results. Qualitative studies highlight the limited efficacy of lawsuits in the typical workplace, finding that lit…	March 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

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Docket

Last updated March 24, 2025, 8:29 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	Complaint filed. Filing Fee: $ n/a Receipt # n/a (Pages: 6) Government agency - no filing fee. (fe) (Entered: 08/27/2003)	Aug. 26, 2003	Aug. 26, 2003
	Case assigned to Judge Robert A. Junell (fe) (Entered: 08/27/2003)	Aug. 26, 2003	Aug. 26, 2003
2	Waiver of Service by Associates of Midlan ; Notice and Request Mailed on 9/11/03 ; Answer due on 11/10/03 for Associates of Midlan (fe) (Entered: 09/16/2003)	Sept. 16, 2003	Sept. 16, 2003
3	Answer by Associates of Midland... (fe) (Entered: 11/05/2003)	Nov. 4, 2003	Nov. 4, 2003
	Defective pleading notification letter mailed to P.V. Patel, prose for Associates of Midland Cardiovascular.... (fe) (Entered: 11/05/2003)	Nov. 4, 2003	Nov. 4, 2003
4	Scheduling order setting Joining of parties, amending of pleadings on 12/30/03 Deadline for filing of all motions 4/20/04 Discovery cutoff 4/6/04 ; Alternate Dispute Resolution Report due by 4/27/04 ; Jury Selection set for 9:00 8/2/04 ; Jury trial set for 9:00 8/2/04 , termed motions signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (fe) (Entered: 11/06/2003)	Nov. 5, 2003	Nov. 5, 2003
5	Pretrial disclosures filed by EEOC, Associates of Midlan (sm) (Entered: 12/23/2003)	Dec. 23, 2003	Dec. 23, 2003
6	Notice by Associates of Midlan of: filing for bankruptcy (case number 04-70229, WDT-Midland) (sm) (Entered: 04/14/2004)	April 13, 2004	April 13, 2004
7	Order setting status conference to 3:00 4/28/04 signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (sm) (Entered: 04/15/2004)	April 15, 2004	April 15, 2004
8	Response by EEOC to notice [6-1] of bankruptcy filing (fe) (Entered: 04/20/2004)	April 20, 2004	April 20, 2004
9	Alternate Dispute Resolution Report filed by EEOC, Party(s) agree to Alternate Dispute Resolution (fe) (Entered: 04/28/2004)	April 27, 2004	April 27, 2004
10	Minutes of proceedings for status conference hearing conducted on 4/28/04 by Judge Junell. Court Reporter: Anderson (fe) (Entered: 04/29/2004)	April 28, 2004	April 28, 2004
	Status conference held. Court recommends parties discuss agreed judgment. Joint status letter due 6/15 by plaintiff. Discovery stayed per court. (fe) (Entered: 04/29/2004)	April 28, 2004	April 28, 2004
11	Letter/Correspondence submitted by EEOC regarding: status on case per order from Judge Junell. (fe) (Entered: 06/16/2004)	June 14, 2004	June 14, 2004
12	Order resetting Jury selection to 10/4/04 , resetting Jury trial to 10/4/04 signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (fe) (Entered: 07/19/2004)	July 19, 2004	July 19, 2004
13	Notice by Associates of Midlan of: Bankruptcy Filing. (fe) (Entered: 07/30/2004)	July 30, 2004	July 30, 2004
14	Letter/Correspondence submitted by EEOC, Associates of Midlan regarding: the status of negotiations. (fe) (Entered: 08/03/2004)	Aug. 2, 2004	Aug. 2, 2004
15	Order setting pretrial conference to 11:00 9/27/04 signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (sm) (Entered: 09/16/2004)	Sept. 16, 2004	Sept. 16, 2004
16	Order setting pretrial conference to 11:00 9/27/04 signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (sm) (Entered: 09/17/2004)	Sept. 17, 2004	Sept. 17, 2004
17	Joint Notice by EEOC, Associates of Midlan of: pending settlement (sm) (Entered: 09/20/2004)	Sept. 20, 2004	Sept. 20, 2004
18	Order granting notice [17-1] dismissing cause without prejudice as parties have settled signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (sm) (Entered: 09/21/2004)	Sept. 21, 2004	Sept. 21, 2004
19	Clerk's judgment that case be administratively closed as parties have settled; settlement documents to be presented to court within 30 days (sm) (Entered: 09/21/2004)	Sept. 21, 2004	Sept. 21, 2004
	Case closed (sm) (Entered: 09/21/2004)	Sept. 21, 2004	Sept. 21, 2004
20	Joint motion by EEOC, Associates of Midlan for entry of agreed judgment (sm) (Entered: 09/23/2004)	Sept. 23, 2004	Sept. 23, 2004
21	Order granting joint motion for entry of agreed judgment [20-1] signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (sm) (Entered: 09/23/2004)	Sept. 23, 2004	Sept. 23, 2004
22	Agreed Judgment for EEOC against Associates of Midland; Martina Smart shall have a liquidated claim against Associates in the sum total of $155,000.00 signed by Judge Robert A. Junell (Pages: 5) (sm) (Entered: 09/23/2004)	Sept. 23, 2004	Sept. 23, 2004

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Case Details

State / Territory:

Texas

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Special Collection(s):

EEOC Study — in sample

Multi-LexSum (in sample)

Key Dates

Filing Date: Aug. 26, 2003

Closing Date: 2007

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of one or more workers.

Plaintiff Type(s):

EEOC Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

EEOC

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Private Entity/Person

Associates of Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine, P.A.

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Other Dockets:

Western District of Texas 7:03-cv-00123

Available Documents:

Complaint (any)

Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief

Monetary Relief

Trial Court Docket

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed

Relief Granted:

Damages

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Content of Injunction:

Expungement of Employment Record

Monitoring

Neutral/Positive Reference

Retaliation Prohibition

Amount Defendant Pays: 155000

Order Duration: 2004 - 2007

Issues

General/Misc.:

Retaliation

Discrimination Area:

Discharge / Constructive Discharge / Layoff

Disparate Treatment

Harassment / Hostile Work Environment

Discrimination Basis:

Sex discrimination

Affected Sex/Gender(s):

Female

EEOC-centric:

Direct Suit on Merits

Recommended Citation

Case Summary of EEOC v. Midland Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine ("The Heart Center"), Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/6030/ (last updated 12/26/2018).