Carruthers v. Bsa Advertising, Inc.

• Decision Date: 21 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-12308 Non-Argument Calendar.,03-12308 Non-Argument Calendar.
• Citation: 357 F.3d 1213
• Parties: Jean E. CARRUTHERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BSA ADVERTISING, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

357 F.3d 1213

Jean E. CARRUTHERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BSA ADVERTISING, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-12308 Non-Argument Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

January 21, 2004.

Michael A. Moulis, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Nikki M. Setnor, Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., David E. Block, Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman, Miami, FL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before BIRCH, BLACK and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Jean E. Carruthers appeals the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law in favor of BSA Advertising, Inc. ("BSA"), her former employer, on Carruthers's discrimination claim filed pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

In May of 2002, Carruthers filed a complaint alleging that BSA terminated her employment because of a disability or a perceived disability, in violation of the ADA. The undisputed and relevant facts of the case follow: (1) Carruthers was employed with BSA from 1993 through 2000, most recently in the position of Art Director; (2) on 28 February 2000, Carruthers visited her assigned workers' compensation physician after experiencing pain and swelling in both of her hands; (3) Carruthers's physician diagnosed her as suffering from a bilateral hand strain/ sprain and gave her various work restrictions, which were to be reviewed on a week-to-week basis; (4) Carruthers notified her supervisor of her diagnosis and work restrictions, which included a prohibition on any computer/mouse usage; (5) BSA placed a classified advertisement for Carruthers's replacement on 5 March 2000; and (6) BSA terminated Carruthers's employment on 8 March 2000.

The district court subsequently issued a scheduling order, which set (1) a deadline for 25 July 2002 for all amendments to the pleadings, (2) a deadline of 25 November 2002 for completion of all non-expert discovery, and (3) a trial date for the week commencing 24 March 2003. On January 17, 2003, Carruthers filed a motion for leave to amend her complaint, maintaining that, during the course of mediation, she had discovered that she had a cause of action for retaliatory discharge, on the theory that her termination was based, at least in part, on her decision to seek workers' compensation. The district court denied Carruthers's motion, and the case proceeded to trial on 4 March 2003.

At the conclusion of Carruthers's case, BSA moved for judgment as a matter of law, arguing that Carruthers failed to show that BSA perceived her as having a disability under the ADA. In the alternative, BSA contended that, because of Carruthers's admission that ninety percent of her work was on the computer and because her work restrictions had forbidden any computer usage, she had failed to show that she could perform the essential functions of her job and that her request that BSA hire an assistant for her did not represent a reasonable accommodation. The district court granted BSA's motion. Carruthers now appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. District Court's Judgment as a Matter of Law

On appeal, Carruthers argues that the district court erred in granting BSA's motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.¹ According to Carruthers, the district court wrongly concluded that her evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to her, failed to establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination in violation of the ADA. Specifically, she argues that the district court erred in determining that no reasonable juror could conclude that Carruthers's evidence showed that she was perceived to be disabled or that she was qualified to perform the essential functions of her job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

"We review the district court's grant of a Rule 50(a) motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo, considering all the evidence in the light most favorable to... the non-moving party." Mendoza v. Borden, Inc., 195 F.3d 1238, 1259 (11th Cir.1999). "A directed verdict is only proper when the facts and inferences so overwhelmingly favor the verdict that no reasonable juror could reach a contrary decision." Id. (citation and internal punctuation omitted). However, "a mere scintilla of evidence does not create a jury question"; instead, "there must be a substantial conflict in evidence to support a jury question." Williams v. Motorola, Inc., 303 F.3d 1284, 1290 (11th Cir.2002).

The ADA forbids covered employers from discriminating "against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to ... discharge of employees." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a) (2000). To establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA, Carruthers must show that she (1) had, or was perceived to have, a "disability"; (2) was a "qualified" individual; and (3) was discriminated against because of her disability. Williams, 303 F.3d at 1290. The ADA defines "disability" as "(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment." 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2).

In order for any ADA claim to succeed, the claimant must show that her condition of impairment rises to the level of a disability. In Carruthers's case, the sole basis of her contention that she was disabled is subsection (C) of § 12102(2). Under the "regarded as" prong, a person is "disabled" if her employer perceives her as having an ADA-qualifying disability, even if there is no factual basis for that perception. Williams, 303 F.3d at 1290. As with actual impairments, however, the perceived impairment must be one that, if real, would limit substantially a major life activity of the individual. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(C); see also Sutton v. Lader, 185 F.3d 1203, 1208 (11th Cir.1999). Carruthers argues that BSA "perceived her as not performing a wide range of jobs." Appellant's Br. at 10. Although Carruthers offers no further description of the specific disability that BSA allegedly perceived her to have, we construe her argument to be that BSA perceived her hand condition as substantially limiting her in the major life activities of working and of performing manual tasks.

The regulations implementing the ADA enumerate several functions that qualify as "major life activities," included among which is the activity of "working." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(i) (2003). In order for Carruthers to establish that BSA regarded her as substantially limited in the major life activity of working, she must show that BSA perceived her 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." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(3)(i); see also Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, 491, 119 S.Ct. 2139, 2151, 144 L.Ed.2d 450 (1999) ("When the major life activity under consideration is that of working, the statutory phrase `substantially limits' requires, at a minimum, that plaintiffs allege they are unable to work in a broad class of jobs.").² "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). Thus, an impairment must preclude — or at least be perceived to preclude — an individual from more than one type of job, even if the job foreclosed is the individual's job of choice. See Sutton, 527 U.S. at 492, 119 S.Ct. at 2151.

With regard to Carruthers's perceived impairment in performing manual tasks, the Supreme Court recently took up the question of when such an impairment constitutes an ADA disability. Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 122 S.Ct. 681, 151 L.Ed.2d 615 (2002). In rejecting plaintiff's argument that her carpal tunnel syndrome limited her ability to perform a broad class of manual tasks and thus impaired a major life activity, the Toyota Motor Court emphasized that both statutory language and congressional intent require that the ADA's "disability" definition be "interpreted strictly to create a demanding standard for qualifying as disabled." Id. at 197, 122 S.Ct. at 691. The Court highlighted several prerequisites in order for an impairment to the ability to perform manual tasks to qualify as a disability. Specifically, the Court held that the critical inquiry is whether the impairment (a) prevents or severely restricts the performance of (b) activities "of central importance to most people's daily lives." Id. at 198, 122 S.Ct. at 691. The Court further held that the impairment must have a permanent or long-term impact. Id.; see also 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(2)(iii).

We conclude that no reasonable jury could find that Carruthers's evidence established that BSA perceived her impairment as one that substantially limited the major life activities of working or performing manual tasks. Carruthers herself admitted at trial that BSA's knowledge of her condition was limited to her physician's diagnosis of a bilateral hand strain/sprain and her work restrictions. Aside from BSA's awareness of her initial diagnosis and work restrictions, the only other support Carruthers offers for her contention that BSA perceived her to be disabled is the fact that (1) BSA informed her that she would be terminated if she could not maintain a full-time schedule and (2) BSA placed an advertisement for her replacement shortly after learning of her inability to perform the basic tasks of her position. Based on this record, we find no indication that BSA regarded, or would have had any reason to regard, Carruthers's condition as rendering her incapable of performing "either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes." 29 C.F.R. §...