Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019-03-26

42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md)

Original case on neochart.com

Case and law context

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2

Role: applied; posture: civil; Title VII sex and religious discrimination (with ADA and ADEA claims) by an unpaid hospital intern; Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal for lack of employee status affirmed (10th Cir.); result: claimant-lost; claim: (a), (d)

Uncertainty

Element employer: basis: the court says the relationship fails "as a matter of law", but it rules on the complaint's allegations taken as true at Rule 12(b)(6) and declines any categorical rule about interns; `pleaded` (allegations insufficient) is used rather than `law`.

Misfit

None recorded

B · Case × element grid

Top-level elements follow claim order in panels of up to six elements. Case rows repeat across panels. Every recorded block retains its holding and basis; multiple blocks are not merged into a case-level verdict. ✓ satisfied · ✗ not satisfied · ○ not reached · · not addressed. Muted blocks are not counted. Sub-element evidence remains on case and element pages.

Elements 1–6 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
CaseCovered entity: employer, employment agency, or labor organizationProtected trait: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy/abortion), or national originAdverse employment action affecting compensation, terms, conditions, privileges, or statusDiscriminatory causation ("because of" protected trait)adverse-action-a2 statutory route or exceptionemployment-agency-route statutory route or exception
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 7–12 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
Caselabor-organization-route statutory route or exceptiontraining-program statutory route or exceptionImpermissible motivating factor in mixed-motive cases (§ 2000e-2(m))Bona fide occupational qualification (§ 2000e-2(e)(1))Severe or pervasive hostile or abusive working environmentParticular employment practice causing a disparate impact on a protected group
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed
○ not reached · basis not recordedNot counted: applied/procedural
· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 13–18 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
CaseBona fide seniority/merit system or professionally developed ability test (§ 2000e-2(h))Failure to reasonably accommodate religious observance or practice (§§ 2000e-2(a)(1), 2000e(j))Retaliation for protected Title VII activity (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a))communist-organization statutory route or exceptionEmployer's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason (McDonnell Douglas step 2)indian-preference statutory route or exception
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 19–24 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
CaseSubsection (n) limits challenges to covered litigated or consent judgments or ordersjudgment-order-scope statutory route or exceptionk2-intentional-limit statutory route or exceptionk3-controlled-substance statutory route or exceptionlabor-organization-causation statutory route or exceptionnational-security statutory route or exception
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 25–30 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
Caseno-preference-imbalance statutory route or exceptionPretext for discrimination (McDonnell Douglas step 3)Qualified for the position / meeting legitimate employer expectationsreligious-institution statutory route or exceptiontest-score-discrimination statutory route or exceptionRejected "bottom-line" racial or gender balance defense to a discriminatory pass/fail barrier (Connecticut v. Teal)
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Elements 31–33 of 33

42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2
CaseStrong-basis-in-evidence defense for race-conscious action taken to avoid disparate-impact liability (Ricci v. DeStefano)Rejected defense that an adverse CBA arbitration precludes a Title VII action (Alexander v. Gardner-Denver)Mixed-motive same-decision partial affirmative defense (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g)(2)(B))
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))· not addressed· not addressed· not addressed

Instances and excluded annotation blocks

Annotation blocks, including explicitly excluded context
CaseElementHolding and scopePatternExact source quotations
Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 — not · pleaded (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))Covered entity: employer, employment agency, or labor organizationnot
Counted merits instance
applied / merits

basis: pleaded; claim: (a), (d)

Threshold-remuneration test: an unpaid worker must first show direct pay or substantial, non-incidental indirect benefits before the common-law agency test is reached. Benefits not provided by the hospital itself and contingent on later events (passing the exam, being hired) are too attenuated.
unpaid-intern-claiming-certification-eligibility-and-path-to-employment-as-remuneration
Relevant to this appeal, Ms. Sacchi received no direct payment or other benefits for her work as an intern.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [2748:2855] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: cuts-against; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

The Hospital's internship program is designed to satisfy the clinical experience requirement, and the program is accredited and recognized by the Child Life Council.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [3559:3724] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: supports; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Although an internship was required for Ms. Sacchi to sit for a professional exam, she still had to pass the exam to receive her child life certification.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [8667:8821] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: cuts-against; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

For her to have obtained a position thereafter, she still had to find an open position, apply for that position, and then be selected over all other applicants in what Ms. Sacchi noted is a competitive field.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [8843:9051] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: fact; polarity: cuts-against; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

In general, to satisfy the test, the plaintiff must receive direct remuneration or indirect benefits that are substantial or significant and not incidentally related to advancing the purpose of the putative employer.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [7260:7476] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: rule; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

We conclude that Ms. Sacchi's intern relationship with the Hospital fails to satisfy the threshold-remuneration test as a matter of law for two reasons.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [8146:8298] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

We also decline the invitation to conclude that all interns are protected by Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [10169:10279] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Sacchi v. Ihc Health Servs., Inc. — 918 F.3d 1155 (2019) · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2019 — not reached (42usc2000e-2: author: Flash2 · QA: FIX (Fable, neov2/cases/TRIAGE-Flash.md))training-program statutory route or exceptionnot_reached
Excluded from merits counts
applied / procedural

claim: (a), (d)

Footnote: the panel itself asked for supplemental briefing on whether 2000e-2(d) (training programs) covers this internship, then declined to reach the theory because it was never raised in the district court.
Unspecified route
We therefore agree with the Hospital that the principles motivating the application of plain error in similar circumstances counsel that we should not exercise our discretion to reach this issue.
Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/f3d_918.jsonl#/f3d/918/1155-01; Unicode character offsets [15288:15483] (end exclusive); SHA-256 07fc3d350d4e048520c297e487140d60fc390217113f71eb61fd2be9d3c62390.

Evidence kind: held; polarity: not recorded; absent flag: 0; quoted-rule flag: 0 (1 = tagged; 0 = not tagged)

Court interpretations recorded from this case