Black v. Roadway Express, Inc.

Decision Date22 July 2002
Docket NumberNo. 00-6439.,00-6439.
Citation297 F.3d 445
PartiesDouglas BLACK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ROADWAY EXPRESS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Peter Alliman (argued and briefed), White, Carson & Alliman, Madisonville, TN, for Appellant.

Richard S. Busch (argued and briefed), King & Ballow, Nashville, TN, for Appellee.

Before MOORE, COLE, and FARRIS, Circuit Judges.*

OPINION

MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Douglas Black ("Black") appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment for Defendant-Appellee Roadway Express, Inc. ("Roadway"). Black, a truck driver, filed a complaint against his employer, Roadway, in October of 1998, alleging discrimination in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. Black claimed that he was disabled for the purposes of the Act because of a knee injury and that Roadway discriminated against him on the basis of his disability by refusing reasonably to accommodate him. Roadway moved for summary judgment, claiming that Black was not disabled because his knee injury did not substantially limit any of his major life activities. The district court granted Roadway's motion for summary judgment. Because we conclude that Black did not raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether his knee injury substantially limited him in any major life activities, we AFFIRM the district court's grant of Roadway's motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

Black began working for Roadway as an over-the-road truck driver in September 1991. On September 22, 1995, Black injured his right knee falling out of a truck. Between 1995 and 1997, Black had three surgeries performed on the knee. Following each surgery, Black took some leave from work, but he was eventually released to return to work with the restriction that he only drive trucks with cruise control.1 Black claims that he informed Roadway of the restriction and that Roadway refused to accommodate him by providing him with trucks with cruise control.2 Prior to Black's release to return to work in August of 1997, after his third surgery, Black was also examined by an orthopedic surgeon at Roadway's request. Roadway's surgeon concluded that although Black was impaired, he could work without restriction. Thereafter, Roadway took the position that Black was not disabled and thus did not need accommodation. Black has since not returned to work at Roadway, but between August 1997 and December 1997, he did work for two other trucking companies, both of which provided him with trucks with cruise control.

On January 7, 1998, Black filed a charge of discrimination with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, as the local agency of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), alleging that Roadway discriminated against him based on his disability in violation of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. After receiving notice of the right to sue from the EEOC, Black filed a complaint against Roadway in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee on October 23, 1998.3 In his complaint, Black alleged that his knee injury constituted a "disability" under the ADA and that Roadway's refusal to provide him with trucks with cruise control constituted the denial of a reasonable accommodation of his disability. Roadway moved for summary judgment on May 8, 2000, arguing that Black was not disabled for the purposes of the ADA because his knee injury did not cause him to be substantially limited in any major life activity; on June 23, 2000, Black also moved for summary judgment. On September 25, 2000, the district court issued an order granting Roadway's motion for summary judgment and denying Black's motion for summary judgment. In its accompanying opinion, the court stated that Black's knee injury constituted a "physical impairment" for the purposes of the ADA. However, the court concluded that Black's knee injury did not substantially limit him in any major life activity, as is required for an impairment to constitute a "disability" for the purposes of the ADA. Black timely appeals.

II. ANALYSIS
A. Standard of Review

We review de novo a district court's order granting summary judgment. Rannals v. Diamond Jo Casino, 265 F.3d 442, 447 (6th Cir.2001), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 1074, 151 L.Ed.2d 976 (2002). We also review de novo a district court's order denying summary judgment, if the denial is based on purely legal grounds. Garner v. Memphis Police Dep't, 8 F.3d 358, 363 (6th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1177, 114 S.Ct. 1219, 127 L.Ed.2d 565 (1994). If the denial is based on the district court's finding of a genuine issue of material fact, however, we review for abuse of discretion a district court's order denying summary judgment. Pinney Dock and Transp. Co. v. Penn Cent. Corp., 838 F.2d 1445, 1472 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 880, 109 S.Ct. 196, 102 L.Ed.2d 166 (1988). In this case, the district court denied Black's motion for summary judgment on the purely legal ground that it was granting Roadway's motion for summary judgment. Therefore, we review de novo both the district court's grant of Roadway's motion for summary judgment and the court's denial of Black's motion for summary judgment.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), we affirm a grant of summary judgment only "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A dispute over a material fact cannot be "genuine" unless a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In reviewing the district court's decision to grant summary judgment, this court must view all evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

B. Disability under the ADA

The ADA prohibits covered employers from discriminating against "a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). Discrimination includes "not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of such covered entity." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A). A "qualified individual with a disability" is defined as "an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires." 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8).

The ADA defines "disability" in pertinent part as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual...." 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A). Regulations promulgated by the EEOC define "physical impairment" as "[a]ny physiological disorder, or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting [certain] body systems." 29 C.F.R § 1630.2(h)(1) (2001).4 "Major life activities," according to the regulations, "mean[] functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(i).5 For major life activities other than working, the regulations define "substantially limits" as: "(i) Unable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform; or (ii) Significantly restricted as to the condition, manner or duration under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity as compared to the condition, manner, or duration under which the average person in the general population can perform that same major life activity." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(1).6 For the major life activity of working, the regulations define "substantially limits" as "significantly restricted in the ability to perform either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes as compared to the average person having comparable training, skills and abilities. The inability to perform a single, particular job does not constitute a substantial limitation in the major life activity of working." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(3)(i).7

In this case, Roadway admits that it refused to provide Black with trucks that have cruise control, even though it knew of his knee injury. Therefore, Black has direct evidence that Roadway discriminated against him in violation of the ADA by not reasonably accommodating an alleged physical disability. This court has held that if an employee has direct evidence of discrimination in violation of the ADA, the employee then bears the burden of proving (1) that he or she is "disabled," and (2) "that he or she is `otherwise qualified' for the position despite his or her disability: (a) without accommodation from the employer; (b) with an alleged `essential' job requirement eliminated; or (c) with a proposed reasonable accommodation." Monette v. Elec. Data Sys. Corp., 90 F.3d 1173, 1186 (6th Cir.1996). The employer bears the burden of proving "that a challenged job criterion is essential, and therefore a business necessity, or that a proposed accommodation will impose an undue hardship on the employer." Id.

C. Whether Black is Disabled under the ADA

The district court granted Roadway's motion for summary judgment because it concluded that...

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