Benjamin v. Schuller (400 F. Supp. 2d 1055, 2005)

OPINION AND ORDER

MARBLEY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendants, members of The James Board of Trustees, and members of The Ohio State University Hospitals Board of Trustees. In this civil rights action, David Benjamin, M.D. (“Plaintiff’) alleges that his clinical privileges were revoked at The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. So-love Research Institute at The Ohio State University (collectively, “The James”) and at The Ohio State University Medical Center (the “Medical Center”) in violation of his federal due process and equal protection rights. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendants’ Motion is GRANTED.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

As this matter is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion, the Court relies on the facts set forth in the non-movant’s complaint (the “Complaint”).

Plaintiff is an Iraqi-born Israeli and a naturalized citizen of the United States. On July 1, 1990, Plaintiff was appointed to the staff of The James, a state-assisted comprehensive cancer facility. In conjunction with his appointment to The James staff, Plaintiff was granted medical staff privileges at both The James and the Medical Center, one of the Ohio State University (“OSU”) Hospitals. Also in conjunction with The James appointment, Plaintiff was appointed to the faculty of The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health (the “College of Medicine”). Plaintiff was tenured at the College of Medicine in July 1992. Because of these appointments, Plaintiffs employment fell under the auspices of The James, the Medical Center (through the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Hematology and Oncology), and the College of Medicine. In addition, Plaintiff was employed by DMF of Ohio, Inc. (“DMF”), the corporation that handles the private practice of medicine for physicians employed by the Medical Center’s Department of Internal Medicine.

At all relevant times prior to July 1, 1999, Ernest Mazzaferri, M.D. was Chairman of Internal Medicine at the Medical Center, as well as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of DMF. At all relevant times prior to August 1, 1997, James Ungerleider, M.D. was Acting Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the Medical Center and an employee of DMF.

Between his 1990 appointment and 1996, Plaintiff alleges a number of instances of “threats, intimidation, and harassment” at The James and the Medical Center based upon his Israeli national origin, all of which he contends were designed to force him to leave The James, the Medical Center, and the College of Medicine. Plaintiff alleges that the threats, intimidation, and harassment took the form of negative performance reviews. He argues that Defendants did not conduct these review in accordance with standard procedure, and that they did not offer Plaintiff adequate opportunity to defend himself. At Maz-zaferri’s request, William Bay, M.D., Chairman of the Medical Center’s Clinical Quality Management Committee (“QA Committee”), conducted a peer review of Plaintiffs patient care between December 11, 1996, and February 21, 1997. Bay concluded that there was no evidence that Plaintiff had provided negligent or substandard care, though there were some areas of concern. Again at Mazzaferri’s behest, Bay conducted a second, more extensive review, concluding in a May 16, 1997 report, that, while there was still no evidence of negligence, Plaintiffs patient care was “inconsistent with [that of] a board certified hematologist and oncologist providing care at a university medical center.”

In March 1997, at Mazzaferri’s request, Ungerleider assembled a faculty review panel from the Medical Center’s Division of Hematology and Oncology to review Plaintiffs performance. According to Plaintiff, Ungerleider selected each member of the faculty review panel with significant input from Mazzaferri and/or each member was significantly conflicted by his relationship with Mazzaferri. The faculty review panel concluded that Plaintiff “did not meet the standards expected of an academic hematologist and oncologist.” The faculty review panel was then asked to conduct a more extensive review of Plaintiffs performance. Plaintiff alleges that, at Mazzaferri’s request, Bay prepared an inaccurate summary of the panel’s findings after its second review.

Based on the reviews by Bay and the faculty review panel, Mazzaferri directed the QA Committee to conduct a hearing on June 11, 1997 to review Plaintiffs patient care. Also in June 1997, Mazzaferri recommended that re-authorization of Plaintiffs clinical privileges at the Medical Center, determined on a biannual basis, be denied. Because of Mazzaferri’s negative recommendation, the Medical Center’s Credentials Committee conducted a review of Plaintiffs patient care. During the pen-dency of the reviews by the QA Committee and the Credentials Committee, Mazzafer-ri initiated a third review by establishing an Internal Medicine Clinical Quality Management Committee (“Internal Medicine Committee”).

On August 6, 1997, the Internal Medicine Committee recommended that the Division of Hematology and Oncology supervise all of Plaintiffs clinical activities. On August 13, 1997, the QA Committee adopted the Internal Medicine Committee’s recommendation. On August 22, 1997, Mazzaferri rejected the recommendation of the QA Committee. Also on August 22, 1997, Bay reported to the Credentials Committee that, based on Mazzaf-erri’s rejection of the proposed corrective plan, the QA Committee had no alternative but to recommend that Plaintiff be denied clinical staff privileges at the Medical Center. Both the Internal Medicine Committee and the QA Committee eventually formally concluded that Plaintiffs patient care “does not meet the Standards of Care of a board-certified Hematologist/Oncologist at a tertiary care medical center.”

On August 1, 1997, Clara Bloomfield, M.D. succeeded Ungerleider as Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Plaintiff claims that Bloomfield “recognized that the peer review process conducted to date with respect to Plaintiff did not comply with the customs, policies and procedures, and Bylaws of the Medical Center and/or The James.” He alleges that, in an effort to “circumvent any legal problems” arising with respect to the past peer review of Plaintiff, Bloomfield “joined the conspiracy to effectuate” Plaintiffs expedited departure from The James, the Medical Center, and the College of Medicine. Plaintiff alleges that she did so by: (1) instituting formal corrective action against Plaintiff at The James; (2) coercing Plaintiff into “accepting a nominal severance” in exchange for his resignation; (3) reducing Plaintiffs income from his private practice; and (4) “freezing Plaintiff out from activities and responsibilities of the Division of Hematology and Oncology.”

In September 1997, the charges against Plaintiff were transferred from the Medical Center to The James, and The James began to take formal corrective action against Plaintiff. Bloomfield assigned Mazzaferri the task of nominating the members of The James Investigative Committee, and Mazzaferri did so. Mazzaferri directed The James Investigative Committee to limit its review to the Medical Center QA Committee’s evaluation of Plaintiff. On November 24, 1997, the James Investigative Committee concurred with the QA Committee’s assessment that Plaintiff did not meet the standard of an academic hematologist/oncologist. The James Investigative Committee recommended that Bloomfield not assign Plaintiff any patient care at either The James or the Medical Center.

Plaintiff refused to resign or settle the charges against him. In February 1998, Bloomfield engaged Raymond Weiss, M.D. to conduct an outside review of Plaintiffs patient care. Plaintiff alleges that Weiss was biased against him, and that the two had various conflicts of interest. The cases selected for Weiss’s review were selected because they suggested that Plaintiff had deviated from acceptable medical standards. Weiss’s outside review concurred with The James Investigative Committee’s findings.

On June 29, 1998, Bloomfield recommended to David Schuller, M.D., Director of The James, that Plaintiffs clinical privileges be suspended immediately for failing to meet the standard expected of an academic hematologist/oncologist.

On July 1, 1998, DMF declined to renew Plaintiffs employment contract, rendering Plaintiff unable to meet his requirements under the College of Medicine’s Practice Plan, which requires all physicians to be employed by an approved private practice corporation. Plaintiff thus became responsible for of establishing and maintaining his own private practice at both The James and the Medical Center. Mazzaferri ordered non-renewal of Plaintiffs employment contract, and denied a subsequent request by Schuller that Plaintiffs employment be reinstated. Instead, Mazzaferri demanded that Schuller reconsider Plaintiffs relationship with The James.

Plaintiff specifically identifies various instances of “significant harassment” beginning in July 1998, purportedly all for the purpose of coercing him to leave the Medical Center and The James. First, Plaintiff alleges that Barbara Nesbitt, the administrator in 1990 for then-Director of the Division of Hematology/Oneology Dr. Bal-cerzak, called attention to Plaintiffs Israeli accent and stated “this is not the Middle East and we Americans are different.” Second, Plaintiff claims that on December 10,1997 Dr. Bloomfield said that she needed, to be blunt with him because he was “not American and [he did] not understand the American way.” Further, she allegedly told Plaintiff that she was married to a “bloody foreigner” like him; Plaintiff asserts that he was deeply insulted by her statement. Third, Plaintiff alleges that various doctors told him that OSU had “tried to get rid” of him, but that because he was an Israeli, he did not get the message. Fourth, Plaintiff alleges that other doctors ignored Plaintiffs wife at annual office parties because he was not American. Fifth, he alleges that he was discriminated against when OSU nurses commented that patients from rural Ohio could not understand Plaintiff because of his accent. Lastly, Plaintiff asserts that animus. presented itself in his discussions with Dr. Ungerleider about having served in the Israeli Army. Plaintiff claims that he and Dr. Ungerleider had a number of such discussions from 1990 through 1995.

On August 12, 1998, Schuller rejected Bloomfield’s' recommendation to suspend Plaintiffs clinical privileges at The James, allowing Plaintiff to maintain his clinical privileges through the pendency of the Grievance Committee process. Plaintiff alleges that The James Grievance Committee did not comply with The James Bylaws and did not allow him adequate opportunity to defend himself. The Grievance Committee findings, reported on October 29, 1999, concluded, among other things, that Plaintiff “does not conform to the standards -of a University practitioner.” On May 5, 2000, Schuller adopted the Grievance Committee’s report.

On July 1, 2001, after various other reviews and procedures, Plaintiffs clinical privileges at the Medical Center were revoked. His clinical privileges at The James were suspended on March 15, 2002, and formally revoked on April 5, 2002. The Medical Staff Administrative Committee at The James (the “MSAC”) perceived its charge as being “to evaluate whether Dr. Benjamin was practicing ‘below the level of care expected at an academic medical center specializing in cancer therapy and research.’ ” The MSAC took note of the fact that “this level of expectation was above the usual assessment of ‘standard of care’ used in evaluation for negligence in medical-legal cases.” Nevertheless, the MSAC, applying this standard, recommended that Plaintiffs clinical privileges be revoked.

After revoking Plaintiffs clinical privileges, Defendants filed a report with the National Practitioner Data Bank (the “NPDB”) regarding the revocation. The NPDB is a federally-mandated data bank for maintaining information regarding physicians practicing at medical facilities throughout the United States. Under federal law, Defendants are required to report Plaintiffs revocation to the NPDB. Yet, Defendants’ report added that the basis for revocation was Plaintiffs “incompetence.” Defendants’ report to the NPDB will prevent Plaintiff from practicing medicine in the United States until the report is either removed or amended.

Defendants also reported the revocation of Plaintiffs clinical privileges to the State Medical Board of Ohio (the “State Medical Board”), which subsequently initiated an investigation of Plaintiffs patient care. On May 8, 2003, after investigating the matter, the State Medical Board rejected Ohio State’s report and “determined that no further action was required by the Board” and that the complaint had been closed. Therefore, Plaintiffs medical license remains active in the State of Ohio, and Plaintiff would be able to practice medicine if he were granted clinical privileges from any Ohio hospital. Nevertheless, Plaintiff claims that he cannot obtain clinical privileges until the NPDB report is corrected.

Presently, Plaintiff is a tenured professor at Ohio State with no job responsibilities. Plaintiff is licensed to practice medicine in the State of Ohio, but he does not have clinical privileges at any hospital in the state, and he claims that he cannot obtain such privileges so long as the NPDB reports him as “incompetent.”

B. Procedural History

In July 2000, Plaintiff sued DMF and Bloomfield in state court. In that suit, Plaintiff argued that DMF, as well as Bloomfield and other members of DMF, acted improperly when DMF failed to renew Plaintiffs employment contract, and that Plaintiffs practice was severely damaged as a result of DMF’s actions. Plaintiff dismissed this action in September 2000.

On April 9, 2001, Plaintiff filed suit against OSU in the Ohio Court of Claims seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to require that the hearing to determine whether he would continue to have clinical privileges at The James be “based on proper notice and opportunity to participate in such notice.” The Court of Claims denied .Plaintiffs request for injunctive relief and the case was dismissed.

On May 11, 2001, Plaintiff filed á lawsuit in the Ohio Court of Claims against OSU seeking to recover damages for actions taken by OSU or OSU physicians and employees during the peer review process, or in response to Plaintiffs loss of employment with his practice plan. The Court of Claims has determined that Schuller, Bloomfield, and other OSU employees are entitled to qualified immunity. Plaintiffs amended complaint in that state court action advances factual allegations virtually identical to the allegations made in Plaintiffs Complaint before this Court.

In September 2001, Plaintiff re-filed his action against DMF in state court. Plaintiff again argued that Bloomfield, as an agent of DMF, wrongfully interfered with Plaintiffs employment contract with DMF. Plaintiff also alleged that DMF, Bloomfield, “and other agents of [DMF]” wrongfully interfered with Plaintiffs relationship with the College of Medicine and with The James. After a portion of Plaintiffs complaint was dismissed, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the remainder of the suit in November 2002.

On July 5, 2002, Plaintiff filed his Complaint with this Court. The Complaint named members of The James Board of Trustees (“The James Board”), acting in their official capacities as the ultimate authority for granting and revoking clinical privileges at The James; members of The Ohio State University Board of Trustees (the “OSU Board”) acting in their official capacities as the ultimate authority for granting and revoking clinical privileges at the Medical Center; and both Mazzaferri and Ungerleider acting in their individual capacities. In November 2002, the parties stipulated to Plaintiffs filing of a First Amended Complaint based on defense counsel’s representation that the bylaws of The Ohio State University Hospitals had been amended such that the OSU Board had been replaced by the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University Hospitals (the “Hospitals Board”) as the ultimate authority for granting and denying clinical privileges at the Medical Center. Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint, filed on December 4, 2002, thus added as defendants the members of the Hospitals Board, in their official capacities as such, and dropped as defendants the members of the OSU Board.

On December 4, 2002, Plaintiffs filed his First Amended Complaint, which he brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On December 5, 2002, Defendants filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. On January 14, 2003, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint Instanter.

Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint contains several changes; (1) it explicitly statés on several occasions that Defendants Mazzaferri and Ungerleider took certain actions in their capacities as DMF employees; (2) it elaborates upon ways in which certain actions were related to DMF, including DMF motivations for certain actions and the selection of peer reviewers who were also employed by DMF; (3) it emphasizes that Bay’s and Bloomfield’s actions were taken in their capacities as state employees; (4) it refers to certain actions as having been taken “in furtherance of the conspiratorial objective of pressuring, intimidating, and coercing the Plaintiff to leave The James, the Medical Center, and the College of Medicine in an expedited fashion”; (5) it includes in multiple contexts that Defendants Mazzaf-erri and Ungerleider were “acting under color of state law in their capacities as private actors jointly engaged with state officials”; (6) it adjusts, in Count V, the lists of overt actions taken in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy; and (7) it clarifies the Count III Equal Protection claim. Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief requiring The James and the Medical Center to reinstate his clinical privileges; restore his rights, duties, and obligations required of a Hematologist and Oncologist at those institutions; and correct any and all adverse actions reported to the NPDB and the State Medical Board of Ohio.

On September 29, 2003, this Court issued an Opinion and Order in which it granted in part and denied in part Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, and it granted Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint Instanter. Specifically, this Court dismissed all claims against Mazzaferri and Ungerleider and dismissed Plaintiffs Section 1983 conspiracy claim, but the Court declined to dismiss Plaintiffs “class of one” Equal Protection claim.

This matter is now before the Court on Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendants argue that summary judgment is appropriate as to all of Plaintiffs claims because Plaintiff cannot establish that Defendants violated (1) his procedural and/or substantive due process rights, or (2) his equal protection rights under a “class of one” theory and/or a national origin discrimination theory. Plaintiff asserts that summary judgment is not warranted because the Defendants violated his due process and equal protection rights when they revoked his clinical privileges to The James and the Medical Center.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate (“[i]f the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56©). The movant has the burden of establishing that there are no genuine issues of material fact, which may be accomplished by demonstrating that the non-moving party lacks evidence to support an essential element of its case. Celo-tex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Barnhart v. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co., 12 F.3d 1382, 1388-89 (6th Cir.1993). In response, the non-moving party must then present “significant probative evidence” to show that “there is [more than] some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Moore v. Philip Morris Cos., 8 F.3d 335, 339-40 (6th Cir.1993) (citations omitted).

In evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). The Court also must interpret all reasonable inferences in the non-movant’s favor. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962); see also Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (stating that the court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party and must refrain from making credibility determinations or weighing the evidence). The existence of a mere scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party’s position will not be sufficient; however, there must be evidence from which the jury reasonably could find for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Copeland v. Machulis, 57 F.3d 476, 479 (6th Cir.1995); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (finding summary judgment appropriate when “the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party”).

IV. ANALYSIS

A. Whether Defendants Violated Plaintiffs Procedural Due Process Rights

Plaintiff claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that Defendants violated his procedural due process by depriving him of his medical privileges without adequate notice or meaningful opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that “no State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....” U.S. Const. amend. XIV. For a procedural due process claim under the Fourteenth Amendment to succeed, a plaintiff must first establish the existence of a liberty or property interest of which the defendant deprived him. Bd. of Curators of Univ. of Missouri v. Horowitz, 435 U.S. 78, 82, 98 S.Ct. 948, 55 L.Ed.2d 124 (1978). The plaintiff must then demonstrate that the defendant deprived him of that interest without due process of law. Id. at 84, 98 S.Ct. 948. Moreover, “[t]he fundamental requirement of due process is the opportunity to be heard ‘at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.’ ” Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 333, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976) (quoting Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 552, 85 S.Ct. 1187, 14 L.Ed.2d 62 (1965)).

Due process, however, is a flexible concept that must conform to the specific facts in a given case. Id. at 334, 96 S.Ct. 893 (quoting Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972)). In Mathews, the Supreme Court set forth three factors that the court must weigh in its procedural due process analysis:

First, the private interest that will be affected by the official action; second, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and finally, the Government’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail.

Id. at 335, 96 S.Ct. 893 (citation omitted).

The Sixth Circuit has held that in cases in which hospitals withhold a doctor’s medical staff privileges for perceived substandard performance, the relevant due process inquiry is whether, in revoking a plaintiffs clinical privileges, the Defendants relied on evidence that was reasonably related to the operation of the hospital in revoking a plaintiffs clinical privileges. See Yashon v. Hunt, 825 F.2d 1016 (6th Cir.1987); see also, Black v. Barberton Citizens Hosp., 134 F.3d 1265 (6th Cir.1998). In the case sub judice, Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants fired him for inadequate performance. As such, the standard set forth in Yashon and Black, discussed more fully below, controls this case.

In Yashon, the plaintiff sued the defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to compel his reinstatement to the attending medical staff at the Ohio State University Hospitals. Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1017. The defendants moved for summary judgment as to the plaintiffs claims. Id. The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and reentered a prior order of the court determining that in rejecting the plaintiffs application for reappointment, the defendants had provided the plaintiff with required due process. Id.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision, holding that the scope of its review of the plaintiffs claims was “fairly narrow” and generally limited “a federal court’s review of disciplinary actions taken against a physician by a hospital” to “determining whether the procedures used violated any federal rights and whether the administrative body was presented with substantial evidence to support its ultimate action.” Id. at 1022 (citations omitted). Further, the Sixth Circuit found that it was not a court’s function to review the merits of the charges brought against a physician, and that courts should “generally afford great deference to ‘the decision of a hospital’s governing body concerning the granting of hospital privileges.’ ” Id. (citations omitted). The court reasoned that in a case of this nature, the “pertinent question” is whether the decision-maker relied on evidence reasonably related to the operation of the hospital and the attending medical staff in denying a physician’s application for reappointment. Id. at 1025. If the decision to deny a physician’s application for reappointment is based upon such grounds, then “the decision” is “within the discretion of the MSAC.” Id. Moreover, the court recognized the fact that hospitals have an important interest in retaining “only competent and highly compatible physicians on their medical staffs.” Id. at 1022.

In Black, the plaintiff, who possessed medical staff privileges, challenged the defendants’ decision to put him on probation for allegedly engaging in thirty-nine incidents of disruptive conduct at the defendant hospital. 134 F.3d at 1266. The plaintiff filed suit in state court and obtained a preliminary injunction against the defendants, which inter alia enjoined the defendants from taking any disciplinary action against him. Id. After the plaintiff amended his complaint to add a party and claims under both 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, the defendants removed the action to federal court where they petitioned the district court to dissolve the preliminary injunction, or alternatively, to appoint a special master. Id. at 1267. The district court denied both of defendants’ motions. Id.

On appeal, the Sixth Circuit remanded the action, modifying the preliminary injunction but staying it until the court acquired findings of fact. Id. at 1266. The court reasoned that the injunction prevented the hospital from investigating or disciplining the plaintiff regarding complaints arising after the injunction’s issuance. Id. at 1268 (emphasis added). The defendants’ inability to investigate or discipline the plaintiff for any new complaints during the pendency of the preliminary injunction prevented the hospital from addressing “charges of [physician’s] incompetence or any form of [physician’s] less than satisfactory performance.” Id. The court determined that hospitals must be permitted to address such issues as a matter of law. Id.

In this case, both Plaintiff and Defendants had important interests at stake in the MSAC hearings. Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1022. Plaintiff had a “significant” interest in retaining his clinical privileges in order to “maintain his professional reputation and his income.” Id. Defendants had an important interest in “retaining] only competent and highly compatible physicians on its medical staff.” See id. (“Hospitals have an important ‘interest in quickly dealing with incompetence and debilitating personal frictions,’ in order to ensure ‘[effective performance by physicians on the staff ... whose tasks require a high degree of cooperation, concentration, creativity, and the constant exercise of professional judgment.’ ” (quoting Stret-ten v. Wadsworth Veterans Hosp., 537 F.2d 361, 368 (9th Cir.1976))).

In weighing both parties’ interests when considering the sufficiency of the process that was provided to Plaintiff at the MSAC hearings, this Court is mindful that Yashon and Black demand that the Court limit its inquiry and that it decline from reviewing the merits of the charges against Plaintiff. Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1022. As such, in this case, the Court may only consider whether the procedures used by Defendants “violated any [of physician’s] federal rights and whether the administrative body was presented with substantial evidence to support its ultimate action.” Id. (citations omitted).

Defendants argue that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law with respect to Plaintiffs due process claims because Plaintiff was afforded all process due to him under the law, and because Defendants’ decision to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges was “rational and amply corroborated.” The parties do not dispute that Plaintiff has a protected property interest in his medical staff privileges for the purposes of his Procedural Due Process claim. Accordingly, this Court’s procedural due process analysis pertains only to the issue of whether Defendants afforded Plaintiff adequate procedural process under the law. In analyzing this claim, the Court considers the following factors: (1) adequacy of notice; and (2) opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time in a meaningful manner.

1. Adequacy of Notice

According to Defendants, the record before this Court contradicts Plaintiffs contention that he did not receive “sufficient” notice of the charges against him in accordance with The James Bylaws. Defendants argue that they sent letter correspondence both to Plaintiff and to his counsel which, among other things, notified Plaintiff of the charges pending against him, informed him of Dr. Schuller’s recommendation to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges, and notified Plaintiff of his right to appeal to the MSAC and request a hearing. Additionally, after Plaintiff requested a hearing and obtained access to certain requested documentation, Defendants contend that they gave Plaintiff advance notice of the MSAC hearings in accordance with The James Bylaws.

Plaintiff counters that Defendants did not give him timely and adequate notice. While Defendants focus on the notice with which they provided Plaintiff before the MSAC hearings (in April and May 2001), Plaintiff claims that the truly relevant time period for notice extends back to the first QA Committee (held on June 11, 1997). He believes that this is the relevant time period because in confirming other committees’ prior adverse decisions, the MSAC did not conduct a de novo review of Plaintiffs patient care. Moreover, Plaintiff alleges that because Defendants never provided him with a written definition of the standard that was being used to assess his patient care, he was not fully apprised of the charges against him.

Defendants raise the following in their response. First, although Plaintiff complains that the MSAC did not conduct a de novo review, Defendants argue that Plaintiff cites no authority for the proposition that federal due process requires the MSAC to conduct a die novo review and prohibits that entity from considering outsider opinions. Second, Defendants argue that Plaintiff fails to cite any authority that federal due process requires a plaintiff to receive timely notification of an investigation that could lead to more formal adverse action. Third, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs attack on Defendants’ failure to provide him with a written standard of care for practicing at an academic medical center does not create a genuine issue of material fact for trial because there is no “requirement or expectation” that such a standard of care be written and/or recorded.

The Court finds that Defendants afforded Plaintiff constitutionally sufficient notice of the charges against him. Plaintiff cites no authority supporting his assertion that Defendants were constitutionally required to provide him with notice that they were conducting investigations that could potentially lead to formal adverse action against him. Thus, the relevant period in which the Court considers whether Defendants provided Plaintiff with sufficient notice is around the time of the MSAC hearings. The evidence shows that Dr. Schuller informed Plaintiff by letter dated January 30, 2001 of the charges against him. That same letter contained a summary of the findings that a number of groups reached with respect to the charges levied against Plaintiff, and informed Plaintiff of Dr. Schuller’s recommendation that the MSAC revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges. Furthermore, in the January 30 letter, Dr. Schuller informed Plaintiff that he could appeal to the MSAC and request a hearing.

The record also reflects that on February 22, 2001, Plaintiffs counsel responded to Dr. Schuller’s January 30 letter and expressly requested certain documentation related to the charges against Plaintiff. Plaintiffs counsel also requested the identity of all witnesses scheduled to appear at the MSAC hearings, documents to be presented at the hearings, and possible dates and times for the hearings. In response to Plaintiffs counsel’s requests, Dr. Holder gave Plaintiffs counsel copies of a number of documents and informed him of how to access the remaining documents. The Court further notes that by letter dated March 26, 2001, Dr. Schuller informed Plaintiff of the charges that would be the subject' of the MSAC hearings and their relationship to Plaintiffs quality of care; the range of dates respecting Plaintiffs patient care; a list of some of the witnesses the MSAC intended to call at the hearings; Plaintiffs right to cross-examine witnesses; Plaintiffs ability to call witnesses on his own behalf; and the relevant dates and times of the three days of hearings. Thus, the record supports Defendants’ assertion that Plaintiff received timely and adequate notice of the charges against him.

Furthermore, although Plaintiff claims that the MSAC violated The James Bylaws by not conducting a de novo review of Plaintiffs patient care, the Court finds that The James Bylaws, while referencing a de novo hearing, also permit the presentation of “evidence of the prior recommendations of the director and the committees.” The James Bylaws Rule 3335 — 111— 06(D)(1). Thus, Plaintiff has not substantiated his claim that the MSAC’s failure to conduct a de novo hearing created an obligation on the part of the Defendants to provide him with constitutionally sufficient notice at the beginning of the investigatory process in 1997. Plaintiff also alleges that because Defendants never provided him with any notice or definition of the standard of care to be applied in assessing his patient care, he was not fully aware of the charges pending against him. The Court, however, rejects this argument. In Ya-shon, the court stated, “the lack of established standards does not render the MSAC’s decision arbitrary and therefore violative of due process.” Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1025. Defendants do not dispute the fact that the definition of the standard of care of a board certified hematologist/oncologist at a university medical center does not appear in any written form. Yet, Plaintiff fails to establish that the lack of a written definition of the relevant standard of care necessarily violated his procedural due process rights. Indeed, at least one other court has determined that codification of a standard respecting medical staff privileges is difficult and not feasible. See Freilich v. Upper Chesapeake Health Inc., 313 F.3d 205, 219 (4th Cir.2002) (“[I]n the area of personal fitness for medical staff privileges precise standards are difficult if not impossible to articulate. The subjectives of selection simply cannot be minutely codified.”). Further, the Court finds that even in the absence of a written definition of the relevant standard of care, it is indisputable that Defendants notified Plaintiff of the basis for the charges pending against him and supporting Dr. Schul-ler’s recommendation of revocation of Plaintiffs clinical privileges. See supra note 16 and accompanying text; see also Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1025 (“Notice in this type of informal setting need only be specific enough to enable the individual to respond to the charges raised against him; it need not rise to the level of specificity required of a criminal indictment.”) (citation omitted).

Based on the foregoing, this Court holds that Defendants afforded Plaintiff constitutionally adequate notice of the charges against him.

2. Opportunity to be Heard at a Meaningful Time and in a Meaningful Manner

Next, Defendants claim that they provided Plaintiff with an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. Specifically, Defendants assert that Plaintiff: (1) received the opportunity to rebut evidence against him because he was permitted to cross-examine witnesses; (2) was allowed to make statements on his own behalf; (3) had the option of calling witnesses on his behalf; and (4) was permitted to submit written materials on his own behalf. Furthermore, Defendants assert that because Plaintiff did not appear at the first two days of the MSAC hearings, The James Bylaws allowed them to cancel the hearings and revoke Plaintiffs privileges. Despite Plaintiffs inexplicable and un-excused absence from the start of the hearings, Defendants showed good faith in deciding to proceed.

Plaintiff makes several arguments to support his claim that Defendants did not afford him a “meaningful opportunity to be heard.” First, Plaintiff avers that the MSAC hearings were rendered meaningless because Defendants did not postpone them despite Plaintiffs recent recovery from shoulder surgery. Second, Plaintiff claims that many of the physicians involved in the peer-review process had a pecuniary interest in the outcome and that Dr. Mazzaferri and Dr. Ungerleider, as “key participants” in the peer-review process, each had been the subject of Plaintiffs “criticisms and complaints” to the University’s administration. Thus, Plaintiff contends that the biased decision-makers tainted the review process. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated many of the James Bylaws.

Based upon the record before this Court, Defendants provided Plaintiff with an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. As a threshold matter, Defendants did not deprive Plaintiff of a meaningful opportunity to be heard by denying his request to postpone the MSAC hearings. Defendants have proffered evidence tending to show that they based their denial of Plaintiffs request both on the difficulty of scheduling new hearings and on the fact that Plaintiff appeared to engage in “normal activities” after his shoulder surgery. On April 6, 2001, Dr. Holder informed Plaintiffs counsel that shortly after his shoulder surgery, Plaintiff “participated actively” in meetings with The James officials and saw patients at his outpatient clinic between March 12, 2001 and April 3, 2001. Furthermore, at the May 2, 2001 MSAC hearing, Plaintiff made some preliminary comments before the MSAC regarding his absence from the first two days of the hearings.

Significantly, Plaintiff commented that he did not like the fact that the first MSAC hearing, on April 11, 2001, was scheduled for the same' day as his wedding anniversary, but he did not reveal whether this was the reason he had failed to attend that hearing. Finally, notwithstanding the fact that Plaintiff was absent from the first two days of the MSAC hearings, Defendants not only provided Plaintiff with the transcript of the proceedings, but also gave him the opportunity to submit a written response to’ the testimony of Drs. Schuller and Silverman, who testified on April 11 and April 12, respectively. Subsequently, Plaintiff submitted a written response to Dr. Silverman’s testimony to the MSAC. Thus, Plaintiff has not substantiated his claim that Defendants’’ refusal to postpone the MSAC hearings deprived him of procedural due process rights.

Second, Plaintiffs claim that the MSAC physicians were biased is equally unavailing. In a similar case, in which a physician at a public hospital alleged that he had been deprived of his surgical privileges in violation of his due process rights, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that where “the record [was] bare of any indication that the medical staff was in fact biased by any matter not relevant to the proper consideration of [the doctor’s] qualifications,” the plaintiffs bias claim could not survive the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Woodbury v. McKinnon, 447 F.2d 839, 844 (5th Cir.1971).

Plaintiff claims that many of the physicians who participated in his peer-review process had a pecuniary interest in the outcome of the review “because all of them would have to cover Plaintiffs shortfall if such shortfalls persisted, or would benefit from the revenue generated by Plaintiffs patients once his patients were transferred to DMF physicians upon revocation of Plaintiffs clinical privileges.” Yet, Plaintiff does not offer evidence sufficient for this Court to conclude that the physicians’ alleged pecuniary interest motivated the them to deprive Plaintiff of his procedural due process rights. See Richards v. Emanuel County Hosp. Auth., 603 F.Supp. 81, 85 (S.D.Ga.1984) (holding that although “the medical staff of any hospital has a pecuniary interest in the number of doctors on the staff!,] bad motive ... is not to be presumed” and determining that “peer review by members of the medical staff of a fellow doctor’s qualifications to continue on the medical staff does not automatically violate the requirements of due process; the court refused to “presume that the possibility of financial gain would motivate the individuals of the staff to act in an arbitrary and capricious manner” ”).

Moreover, Plaintiffs pecuniary interest argument is undercut by his own deposition testimony. When defense counsel asked Plaintiff if he believed that members of The James MSAC committee were biased against him, Plaintiff responded in the negative with one exception, and at no time did he raise the pecuniary interest argument. Because Plaintiff fails to present the Court with any evidence of Defendants’ bias on the record, his bias claim must fail. See Woodbury, 447 F.2d at 844.

Furthermore, Plaintiffs suggestion that Dr. Mazzaferri tainted the entire peer review process is without merit. Although Plaintiff claims that Dr. Mazzaferri, as a biased decision-maker, initiated the entire peer review process and eventually rejected the QA Committee’s recommendation that Plaintiff be supervised, Plaintiff fails to establish that Dr. Mazzaferri’s alleged taint was not attenuated by the multiple layers of the review process. It is difficult to reconcile Dr. Mazzaferri’s alleged bias with the documented facts that Plaintiff: (1) received the opportunity to rebut evidence against him because he was permitted to cross-examine witnesses at the MSAC hearings; (2) was allowed to make statements on his own behalf; (3) had the option of calling witnesses on his behalf; and (4) was permitted to submit written materials on his own behalf. Additionally, although Plaintiff claims that Dr. Mazzaferri was a “key participant” in the peer-review process, Defendants note that Dr. Mazzaferri retired from the University in July 1999, almost two years before the MSAC rendered its decision, and three years before Plaintiffs clinical privileges were revoked. From the record, it appears that Dr. Mazzaferri was not a primary decision-maker at the time that Plaintiff claims to have been deprived of his procedural due process. See Macene v. MJW, Inc., 951 F.2d 700, 707 (6th Cir.1991) (rejecting bias allegations against an entity that was not an ultimate or primary decision-maker at the time of the alleged due process deprivation). Examining the evidence in its entirety, the Court cannot conclude that Dr. Mazzaferri so compromised Plaintiffs peer-review process that Defendants did not give Plaintiff an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.

Plaintiffs bias claim against Dr. Unger-leider is even more tenuous. According to Defendants, Dr. Ungerleider’s sole involvement with Plaintiffs peer-review process was his participation in the September 1997 meeting of the Clinical Quality Management Policy Group. Thereafter, Dr. Ungerleider vacated his administrative position in the Division of Hematology and Oncology in August 1997, and he left the University in 2000, months before The. James MSAC hearings began. Plaintiff offers no evidence that Dr. Ungerleider was a primary decision-maker at the time that he was allegedly deprived of his procedural due process. The Macene court made clear that an individual without decision-making power cannot deprive a party of his procedural due process rights. Ma-cene, 951 F.2d at 707. Accordingly, Plaintiffs failure to assert that Dr. Ungerleider was a primary decision-maker means that Dr. Ungerleider’s bias, if any, would have had no effect on his procedural due process.

The Court finds Plaintiffs reliance on Dr. Newton and Dr.’s Hodgson’s testimony to substantiate his claim of a biased peer review process untenable. Dr. Newton and Dr. Hodgson both participated in the Grievance Committee that reviewed Plaintiffs case. The record, however, does not reflect that either physician expressed doubts or concerns regarding the revocation of Plaintiffs clinical privileges to Dr. Schuller, committee members, the MSAC, President William Kirwan, or the OSU Board of Trustees before Defendants decided to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges. Accordingly, the Court does not conclude that a biased peer-review process prevented Plaintiff from receiving a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

According to Plaintiff, Defendants violated a number of The James Bylaws. Plaintiff alleges that: (1) the Director of The James performed no investigation pri- or to submitting the initiation of peer-review process to a vote of the MSAC; (2) Dr. Mazzaferri, who initiated Plaintiffs peer review, also selected the members of the Investigative Committee, rather than the Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology; (3) Dr. Bloomfield, rather than discussing Plaintiffs patient care and informing Plaintiff of the specific activities alleged to constitute grounds for corrective action, called Plaintiff a “bloody foreigner” and pressured Plaintiff to quit; (4) two members of the Grievance Committee did not hear all of the evidence, mandating the termination of the committee and the appointment of new Grievance Committee; (5) the Grievance Committee never made any recommendation for action to Dr. Schuller, but Dr. Schuller proceeded with revocation of Plaintiffs privileges notwithstanding the committee’s refusal to recommend revocation. (6) Plaintiff was never afforded the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses who appeared before the Grievance Committee; (7) the MSAC failed to postpone its hearings for good cause shown — Plaintiffs recent shoulder surgery; and (8) the MSAC failed to conduct a de novo review of the Grievance Committee’s decision following the hearings.

Though Defendants counter that their disciplinary actions against Plaintiff followed all of The James Bylaws, in evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and, therefore, the Court must adopt Plaintiffs interpretation. Adickes, 398 U.S. at 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598. Nevertheless, despite Plaintiffs detailed analysis of which of its bylaws The James allegedly failed to follow in disciplining him, the “[violation of a state’s formal procedure ... does not in and of itself implicate constitutional due process concerns.” Purisch v. Tennessee Tech. Univ., 76 F.3d 1414, 1423 (6th Cir.1996). In other words, a state actor’s failure to follow its own formal procedure does not, in and of itself, amount to a constitutional due process concern. Thus, the Court’s adoption of Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated numerous sections of The James Bylaws in carrying out the peer-review process alone does not implicate procedural due process concerns. See id.

Therefore, the Court concludes that Defendants did not deprive Plaintiff of an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner, and Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment with respect to Plaintiffs procedural due process claim is GRANTED.

B. Whether the Revocation of Plaintiffs Medical Privileges Was Supported by Substantial Evidence

Having determined that the peer-review procedures did not violate Plaintiffs procedural due process rights, the Court now looks to whether The James MSAC based its decision to revoke Plaintiffs medical privileges on substantial evidence. Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1024. In Laje v. R.E. Thomason Gen. Hosp., 564 F.2d 1159 (5th Cir.1977), the court stated that, “[o]n review governed by the substantial evidence rule, the issue is not whether the agency arrived at the proper conclusion on the basis of conflicting evidence, but whether it acted arbitrarily and without regard to the facts.” Laje, 564 F.2d at 1162. Finally, the Court must determine whether the MSAC “based its decision ‘only [on] those matters which are reasonably related to the operation of the hospital.’ ” Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1024 (quoting Sosa v. Bd. of Managers of the Val Verde Mem’l Hosp., 437 F.2d 173, 176-77 (5th Cir.1971)); see also Freilich, 313 F.3d at 218 (“The governing board must [ ] be given great latitude in prescribing the necessary qualifications for potential applicants ... This includes the consideration of factors beyond technical medical skills.”) (citations omitted).

The Court holds that Defendants based their decision to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges on substantial evidence. At the outset, MSAC Chairman Copeland established the parameters of the issues to be raised and addressed in the hearings, such that only those matters which are “reasonably related to the operation of the hospital” would be considered during the hearings. Laje, 564 F.2d at 1162. He stated, “[flssues raised by either the Medical Center Administration or Dr. Benjamin or his counsel which have no bearing on patient care issues will not be permitted unless the presenter can link the issue to quality of patient care.”

Second, on May 22, 2001, Chairman Copeland informed Dr. Schuller that the MSAC concurred with Dr. Schuller’s recommendation that Dr. Benjamin’s clinical privileges be revoked and provided the following basis for its decision: “[Dr. Benjamin’s] practice patterns, especially with regard to diagnostic testing, did not meet the standards of this academic medical center.” On June 5, 2001, Dr. Schuller requested that the MSAC submit an addendum setting forth the basis of the majority decision in greater detail. Chairman Copeland provided the following rationale, based on committee members’ analyses, for revoking Dr. Benjamin’s clinical privileges:

(1) His practice pattern tended to demonstrate an excess of diagnostic tests.

(2) He tended to over focus and over react [sic] to minor or trivial deviations of results of diagnostic tests.

(3) His treatment patterns were strongly influenced by anecdotal limited experience.

(4) His use of cytotoxic chemotherapy in the sentinel case without clearly establishing a diagnosis to justify such treatment prior to instituting the treatment.

(5) He tended frequently to initiate or alter therapy for “psychosocial” indications, possibly resulting in inappropriate therapy.

(6) His minimal use of clinical trial protocols.

(7) He was perceived to defend himself with an attitude lacking conciliation and with an attitude of arrogance. This caused some members of the committee to express the opinion that his “rehabilitative” potential was limited.

(8) He appeared, at times, to use therapy schedules that were not considered consistent with good medical practice. His defense was to the effect that “he knew more about these issues than others.” However, when asked why he wasn’t recording and sharing his “superior” knowledge in the areas challenged, his response was inadequate.

Based upon the foregoing rationale, the Court finds that the MSAC based its decision to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges solely on matters “reasonably related to the operation of the hospital,” including Plaintiffs patient care at The James. Ya-shon, 825 F.2d at 1024 (citation omitted); Laje, 564 F.2d at 1162-63 (citations omitted). It is not the province of this Court to substitute its evaluation of the evidence for that of the MSAC; therefore, the Court finds that Defendants relied on substantial evidence in deciding to revoke Plaintiffs medical privileges.

C. Whether Defendants Violated Plaintiffs Substantive Due Process Rights

Plaintiff argues that Defendants’ actions violated his substantive due process rights. Defendants counter that Plaintiffs property interest in his medical privileges does not constitute a liberty interest protected by substantive due process. Alternatively, Defendants argue that should the Court conclude that Plaintiffs interest in his medical privileges rises to the level of a fundamental liberty interest for the purposes of a substantive due process claim, Defendants have provided him with all substantive due process required under the law.

Courts are wary of over-expanding the ambit of substantive due process by considering plaintiffs’ claims arising for violations of property interests that do not rise to the level of fundamental liberty interests. The Sixth Circuit explained:

[t]he interests protected by substantive due process are of course much narrower than those protected by procedural due process ... Interests protected by substantive due process, which the legislature may not infringe upon unless supported by sufficiently important state interests, include those protected by specific constitutional guarantees, such as the Equal Protection Clause, freedom from government actions that ‘shock the conscience,’... and certain interests that the Supreme Court has found so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people as to be fundamental ... [Thus o]ur established method of substantive-due-process analysis has two primary features: First, we have regularly observed that the Due Process Clause specially protects those fundamental rights and liberties which are, objectively, deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition, and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, such that neither liberty nor justice would exist if they were sacrificed. Second, we have required in substantive due process cases a careful description of the asserted fundamental liberty interest.

Bell v. Ohio State University, 351 F.3d 240, 250-51 (6th Cir.2003) (citations omitted) (finding that a medical student’s interest in continuing her medical school education is not a fundamental interest protected by substantive due process). Further, multiple courts have held that a “doctor has no constitutional right to staff privileges of a hospital merely because he is licensed to practice medicine.” Sosa, 437 F.2d at 175 (citing Hayman v. Galveston, 273 U.S. 414, 47 S.Ct. 363, 71 L.Ed. 714 (1927)).

Though, at first glance, Plaintiffs medical privileges do not seem equivalent to constitutionally-protected fundamental rights, the Sixth Circuit has allowed similar claims to proceed in the past. See Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1027 (hearing plaintiffs claims that the MSAC’s decision to reject his application for reappointment to the medical staff violated substantive due process); see also, Woodbury, 447 F.2d at 845 (considering plaintiffs claim that the standards set by the hospital authority were applied arbitrarily). Therefore, this Court will consider Plaintiffs substantive due process claim on its merits.

To withstand substantive due process scrutiny, “a hospital’s decision must be untainted by irrelevant considerations and supported by substantial evidence to free it from arbitrariness, capriciousness, or unreasonableness.” Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1027 (citing Woodbury v. McKinnon, 447 F.2d 839 (5th Cir.1971) (because hospital’s refusal to reassign physician to surgical staff was based solely on its concern for standard of medical practice and welfare of patients, physician was not denied substantive due process in a hearing conducted to determine his qualifications to handle surgery and conduct surgical procedures at the hospital)). The Yashon court determined that because defendants presented “substantial relevant evidence” supporting its decision to deny plaintiffs application for reappointment to the medical staff, they had not violated plaintiffs substantive due process rights. Id.

In this case, the MSAC presented substantial evidence on which to base its decision to revoke Plaintiffs clinical privileges. See supra Part IV.A. Because Defendants’ based their decision on substantial evidence, it was not “arbitrary and capricious,” and, therefore, not in violation of Plaintiffs substantive due process. See Yashon, 825 F.2d at 1027; see also Clark v. West Shore Hosp., 16 Fed.Appx. 421, 428-29 (6th Cir.2001) (terminating a doctor’s contract in accordance with standard procedure was neither a deprivation of a particular constitutional guarantee nor conscience-shocking). As a result, Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment •with respect to Plaintiffs substantive due process claim is GRANTED.

D. Whether Defendants Violated Plaintiff’s Equal Protection Rights

1. Plaintiff’s “Class of One” Claim Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

To bring a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that a person acting under color of state law deprived him of his rights, privileges or immunities secured buy the Constitution or laws of the United States. See Parratt v. Taylor, 451 U.S. 527, 101 S.Ct. 1908, 68 L.Ed.2d 420 (1981). The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that people who are similarly situated will be treated similarly. See generally, City of Cleburne, Tex. v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 439, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985). Equal protection claims generally prohibit, among other things, the discriminatory administration of a law neutral on its face. Charles v. Baesler, 910 F.2d 1349, 1356 (6th Cir.1990) (citing Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 373-74, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220 (1886)). The Supreme Court, however, has recognized that “the Equal Protection Clause [can also give] rise to a cause of action for a ‘class of one.’ ” Vill. of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073, 145 L.Ed.2d 1060 (2000). To present a claim as a “class of one,” a plaintiff must demonstrate that he has been intentionally treated differently from others similarly situated and that there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment. See id.

Though Ol