Dr. Bozorgmehr Pouyeh v. Public Health Trust of Jackson Health System


USCA11 Case: 19-13903 Date Filed: 10/22/2020 Page: 1 of 19 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-13903 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cv-23582-JEM DR. BOZORGMEHR POUYEH, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM, a.k.a. the “Trust”, CARLOS A. MIGOYA, Chief Executive Officer of the Trust, DR. STEVEN J. GEDDE, Program Director of Ophthalmology Residency Program, DR. STEFANIE R. BROWN, Program Director of Preliminary & Internal Medicine, formerly known as Dr. Doe, DR. J. DONALD TEMPLE, Program Director of Harrington Program, DR. DOE, Former Program Director of Preliminary and Internal Medicine, Defendants-Appellees. USCA11 Case: 19-13903 Date Filed: 10/22/2020 Page: 2 of 19 ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (October 22, 2020) Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and FAY, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: This is the third case that Dr. Bozorgmehr Pouyeh, an Iranian national who received his medical degree in 2004 in Iran, has filed alleging that he has been discriminated against when applying to medical residency positions after he immigrated to the United States. 1 According to Pouyeh, he must complete a residency in the United States in order to practice medicine here. But he believes that the defendants—the individuals and entities that oversee the residency programs to which he applied—have not accepted him for any residency program because, despite his superior qualifications and experience, the programs arbitrarily and illegally discriminate against international medical-school graduates (“IMGs”) and illegally discriminate based on national origin and alienage. In a pro se second amended complaint, Pouyeh alleged violations of Title VII, the Florida Civil Rights Act (“Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and equal-protection and 1 Pouyeh states that he became a legal permanent resident of the United States in 2007 and was naturalized as a citizen in 2014. 2 USCA11 Case: 19-13903 Date Filed: 10/22/2020 Page: 3 of 19 substantive-due-process principles under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court dismissed the complaint in part as barred by res judicata and in part for failure to state a viable claim to relief. Pouyeh now appeals, arguing that res judicata does not apply, that he stated viable claims, and that the district court failed to address most of his claims. After careful review, we affirm in part and vacate and remand in part. I. Background Because they are relevant to the current case, we take a moment to describe Pouyeh’s prior two cases before turning to his current claims and the district court’s decision in this case. A. Pouyeh’s Prior Cases Pouyeh first filed a lawsuit in October 2012 after he applied for but did not receive a position in the ophthalmology residency program at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (“Bascom Palmer”), which is part of the University of Miami and which operates under the Public Health Trust of Jackson Health System (the “Trust”). The operative third amended complaint alleged that he applied for a position in the program in each of the years 2010, ...

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