Socializing with colleagues after hours may be good for team-building, but it can also have the opposite effect, as a Houston sexual harassment case involving an anesthesiologist and a receptionist shows.

Norma De La Rosa, former receptionist at the Pain Relief Center in Bay City, Texas, claims she was fired from her job because she refused aggressive advances from physician Ajay Aggarwal, MD, according to documents she filed last year in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas. The Pain Relief Center says Ms. De La Rosa was fired for failing to show up to work for a full week.

Ms. De La Rosa claims that on Dec. 13, 2008, following a "work-related" Christmas party at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Dr. Aggarwal "patted" her "rear end" while the group waited for a limo to take them to a nightclub. At the nightclub, according to Ms. De La Rosa, Dr. Aggarwal "began grabbing" her because he wanted to dance with her. Polite refusals were met with screams from Dr. Aggarwal, as well as "forceful grabs" that injured Ms. De La Rosa's arm.

Ms. De La Rosa said she filed a report with the Houston Police Department following the incident. She says she was fearful of returning to work while Dr. Aggarwal was present. She claims she "notified" the office manager of this, and returned to the office only after Dr. Aggarwal had left for a scheduled trip to India on Dec. 22. "She was upset and afraid to return to work," Ms. De La Rosa's attorney, Adrian V. Villacorta, of Houston, tells Outpatient Surgery Magazine. Ms. De La Rosa notified the office manager 3 or 4 times to say that she was not coming into the office, says Mr. Villacorta. However, upon her appearance in the office, she was terminated.

Ms. De La Rosa claims she suffered quid pro quo sexual harassment and retaliation, resulting in "severe emotional distress, medical expenses and lost earning capacity." She asks for compensation for lost wages, suffering, legal costs and punitive damages.

According to the response filed by the Pain Relief Center, Ms. De La Rosa was fired for failing to show up for work. The response admits that Dr. Aggarwal attended a party at Ruth's Chris Steak House and took a limo to the nightclub. But it denies that Dr. Aggarwal "patted (De La Rosa's) rear end without permission," that he wanted Ms. De La Rosa to dance with him, that she refused, and that he became angry, grabbed Ms. De La Rosa forcefully and caused injuries.

The response also says that the plaintiff is not protected under Title VII, which prohibits discrimination on account of sex as well as several other factors. It asks that the court dismiss the claims and demands reimbursement from Ms. De La Rosa for legal costs. "There is no basis for the claims against Bay City Anesthesiologists, et al. The suit is frivolous and does not meet the requirements for filing in Federal Court," says Allan Cease, attorney for Dr. Aggarwal and the pain center. "I expect there will be a summary judgment disposing of the case."

A trial is set for December 2010.

Outpatient Surgery Magazine Staff