Nathanson v. Medical College of Pennsylvania
| Decision Date | 04 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-1311,90-1311 |
| Citation | 926 F.2d 1368 |
| Parties | 66 Ed. Law Rep. 35 Jayne G. NATHANSON, Appellant, v. The MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PENNSYLVANIA. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Martha Sperling (argued), Elizabeth O. Tomlinson, Silver & Sperling, Doylestown, Pa., for appellant.
Francis J. Connell, III (argued), Drinker, Biddle & Reath, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellee.
Before SLOVITER, Chief Judge, * and SCIRICA and ALITO, Circuit Judges.
Jayne G. Nathanson brought this suit against the Medical College of Pennsylvania (MCP) for alleged violations of Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a) (1988), and for tortious interference with her present and future contracts with other medical schools. The district court granted MCP's motion for summary judgment on all counts. Nathanson v. Medical College of Pa., No. 88-7914, slip op. at 1, 1990 WL 31691 (E.D.Pa. Mar. 19, 1990). We will affirm the summary judgment on the tortious interference with contract claims. However, we will reverse the grant of summary judgment on Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act because the district court's decision was based on an error of law and because we find outstanding two material issues of fact: 1) whether MCP had reason to know that Nathanson's condition was a handicap, and 2) whether MCP provided reasonable accommodations for Nathanson's handicap.
With noted exceptions, the following facts are undisputed. In 1981, Nathanson was involved in an automobile accident that resulted in continuing back and neck injuries. During the next several years she engaged in physical therapy to recover from her injuries. In 1982, she decided that she wanted to go to medical school and began taking medical-related courses at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. In November, 1984, she applied for admission to MCP's 1985 entering class for the M.D. degree. On August 26, 1985, she was accepted for admission to MCP.
During her interviews with two MCP faculty members in July, 1985, and in the narrative section of her application, Nathanson informed MCP about her accident and injuries. She also told the MCP interviewers that she had not been able to sit in the seats provided for examinees for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) because of her disability. Instead, she had been allowed to take the examination at an ordinary table. She stated, however, that she believed at that time that she would not require special accommodations at MCP because she had "never had a problem" with her seating arrangements during her prior course work at Temple and Penn. App. 132-36.
At issue in this case is what took place between Nathanson and MCP administrators from the time that Nathanson first attended MCP to the point of her final departure approximately one year later. Nathanson's transactions with MCP are important because they clarify when and whether MCP was ever aware that Nathanson had a handicap and had requested accommodations, and whether her requests were sufficiently specific for MCP to respond.
A. September 10, 12, 1985: Nathanson's Meetings with Appel and Beasley
Nathanson enrolled in MCP, completed a one-day orientation on Tuesday, September 3, 1985, and began classes on September 4, which she attended until Monday, September 9, 1985. According to Nathanson, her problems at MCP started "from the first day of class" when she encountered difficulty with the school's parking arrangements. She stated that although she spoke to someone about her parking problems, she could not remember the person's name or the title. However, she did remember that "he tried to be helpful and he referred me to, he referred me on to somebody Freeman after that, but I had left [MCP] before I got to speak to Mr. Freeman." App. 143-45.
On September 10, Nathanson met with Dr. Marilyn Appel, MCP's Assistant Dean for Medical Education, to inform her that she was concerned about her ability to continue to attend classes because she was unexpectedly having "severe" muscle spasms in her back and shoulders due to MCP's classroom seats.
A I remember going up to [Appel's] office, telling her the difficulty I was encountering, that it was unexpected, that I felt that the muscle spasms in my back and shoulders were very severe and I was very concerned about being able to continue.
. . . . .
Q What else do you recall?
A I was crying and she put her arms around me.
Q Do you recall anything else?
A. Yes. She told me to think about this and I told her I couldn't continue to sit in class in that circumstance any longer. She said, okay, but just think about this a day or so and then go to see Dr. Beasley.
. . . . .
Q In your meeting with Dr. Appel, did you ask Dr. Appel to have MCP obtain a desk or a chair that you could tolerate?
A Not in my meeting with Dr. Appel. I told her I didn't know what to do. I know I needed some help. I didn't ask her for anything in particular.
App. 145-48 (Deposition of Jayne G. Nathanson).
According to Nathanson, Appel made no further suggestions or comments. App. 147. On or about September 12, Nathanson followed Appel's suggestion and met with Dr. Andrew Beasley, MCP's Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Nathanson's depiction of the specificity of her request for seating at this time varies at different points in her deposition depending upon whether she is only describing her meeting on September 12, 1985, or whether she is comparing that meeting with her last meeting with Beasley on September 3, 1986. When she is comparing her first and last meetings with Beasley, she states that her request was very specific.
Q What happened in that meeting? [on September 12, 1985]
A Well, I described to him the difficulty I was encountering with the seating, and as a result the physical problems I was having with my neck and shoulders as a result of that, that I was surprised, I was disappointed. I asked him if there was anything that could be done to help. He listened to me and he didn't respond. He just, looked at me sympathetically when I talked to him about the pain I was in and the medication I was taking. He did not offer to do anything in terms of the seating in response to my request for help. At the end of the conversation I told him that I would very much like to defer beginning these classes until the next year, until the next September, the next academic year. I remember him looking at me and shaking his head.
. . . . .
Q To indicate?
A As if he understood what I was requesting.
. . . . .
A I recall him saying something about a concern about filling a spot, but that shouldn't be my problem. I thought that was strange and I said, no, I understood because I knew how long I waited all summer long to hear, that the sooner the school knows, if they have a vacancy and someone else can fill it, that I was very sympathetic with that....
. . . . .
Q In that meeting did you discuss with Dr. Beasley in any way the seating arrangements that you had encountered at the University of Pennsylvania or at Temple?
A I remember telling him I was surprised that I was having difficulty with the seating arrangements at MCP because I hadn't had difficulty elsewhere.
Q And did you describe for him in that meeting in any way the difference between the seating arrangements at these other schools and at MCP?
A I remember we talked about it, but I don't remember the words I used.
Q Did you ask Dr. Beasley if it would be possible for MCP to get for you the kind of seating arrangement you had had at Temple or at Penn?
A I didn't use the words that you're using. I asked him for his help with the seating, as I said to you, so that I could be able to continue to sit for class.
Q Why didn't you simply ask Dr. Beasley to get you a chair like the chairs at Penn when you met with him during the week of ... September 9, 1985?
A That was the gist of what our conversation was as I related it to you.
Q But why didn't you say to Dr. Beasley, look, can't you just get me a chair like the one I had at Penn? You didn't say that, did you?
Q Well, what did you have in mind, if anything, that MCP could have helped you put together that you could use?
A What I had described to Beasley before way back in [September] '85, and again when I spoke to him on the 3rd [September 3, 1986], that I just needed, and I described it to you, I needed a chair that was supportive with a continuous back with a high enough writing arm or some type of writing ability to write on a surface that was high, compared to where I was sitting, so that I would not have to lean all the way over.
Q Well, as of September 3rd, 1986, were you aware of the existence anywhere of any such arrangement that would have been available to MCP as of that date?
A I'm not referring to a specifically designed unique object; it could be any chair table height that had a supportive back, that the writing surface was high compared to where I was sitting and I'm sure something could have been put together....
Q Are you telling me that all you needed was a chair with a straight supported back and a table that was of sufficient height so that you would not have to lean over to write; is that what you're saying?
A Yes. It was really very simple.
Q Did you ever make that clear to Dr. Beasley?
A Yes. And the first time I made it clear was when I spoke to him in September of '85. And I demonstrated, my normal way is to demonstrate physically, as well as saying it verbally.
App. 192-93 (Deposition of Jayne G. Nathanson).
According to Nathanson, because Beasley did not respond to her request for help, she informed him that she would like to defer beginning classes until the next year. Beasley asked that she put her request in writing. Apart from one brief contact, Nathanson had no further conversations...
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