Bay v. Cassens Transport Co.

• Decision Date: 11 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-3290,99-3290
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2000) Dennis R. Bay, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cassens Transport Company, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 969

212 F.3d 969 (7th Cir. 2000)

Dennis R. Bay, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cassens Transport Company, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 99-3290

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Argued February 14, 2000

Decided May 11, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division. No. 98-433-WDS--William D. Stiehl, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Before Bauer, Flaum, and Evans, Circuit Judges.

Flaum, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Dennis R. Bay appeals the district court's decision granting summary judgment to Cassens Transport Company ("Cassens") on Bay's employment discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq., and the Missouri Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), Mo. Rev. Stat. sec. 213.010 et seq. Bay alleges that the district court erred in concluding that he was required to exhaust his administrative remedies before pursuing judicial relief. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I. Facts

Cassens is engaged in the business of transporting new vehicles from assembly plants to automobile dealerships in the United States and Canada. Dennis R. Bay was first employed by Cassens as a long-haul truck driver in June 1987.

On May 21, 1997, Bay experienced chest pains and dizziness while driving and sought treatment at Franklin County Hospital in Benton, Illinois. While at the hospital Bay underwent initial testing, but he was released on the condition that he seek further medical consultation. On May 23, 1997, Bay again experienced chest pains. Bay was then admitted to Missouri Baptist Medical Center where he was diagnosed with profound sinus bradycardia with near syncope (loss of consciousness) and near fainting. Bay underwent surgery to implant a pacemaker to correct this problem on May 27, 1997, and remained on a medical leave of absence from work.

At the end of June 1997, Cassens instructed Bay to report to Healthline, an organization with which Cassens has an ongoing relationship to perform Department of Transportation ("DOT") physicals, for a return-to-work DOT recertification examination. When Bay informed Healthline of the medical condition that resulted in his leave, Healthline told him that it would have to review his medical records before determining his physical qualifications to return to work. After a review of these records, Dr. Cheryl L. Patterson, a physician at Healthline, informed Cassens that she believed Bay was permanently disqualified from driving under DOT safety regulations.

Bay disputed Healthline's disqualification determination and, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between Cassens and Bay's union, Bay was sent to an impartial physician to resolve the dispute. After examining Bay, Dr. Gerald A. Wolff, a cardiologist, stated that Bay appeared to fall into a category of pacemaker recipients who could return to commercial driving. However, Dr. Wolff would not state definitively that Bay was qualified to drive under DOT regulations, and he suggested that Bay seek a waiver from DOT. The regulations do not provide for waivers for cardiac conditions.

On October 22, 1997, Bay's union filed a grievance on Bay's behalf requesting that he be reinstated based on the union's belief that Dr. Wolff had found Bay DOT-qualified. Cassens denied Bay's grievance, and the union pursued the collectively-bargained grievance procedure. Ultimately, an arbitration panel ruled that Dr. Wolff had not provided a definite determination of Bay's qualifications to return to work. The panel then ordered the parties to select another doctor to perform a DOT examination.

The parties selected Dr. Stephen Pieper to perform the DOT examination, and Dr. Pieper found Bay qualified under applicable DOT regulations. The arbitration panel then ordered Cassens to reinstate Bay, but found that Cassens had been under no obligation to return Bay to work until a third-party doctor definitively found Bay qualified to resume driving. Consequently, the Board only awarded back pay for the company's three-day delay in reinstating Bay after Dr. Pieper's certification.Bay was returned to work on March 9, 1998.

On January 6, 1998, Bay filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and the Missouri Human Rights Commission ("MHRC"), alleging that Cassens violated the ADA and the MHRA when it refused to allow him to return to work. The EEOC issued a dismissal and notice of right to sue letter on March 27, 1998, and the MHRC issued a right to sue letter on June 8, 1998.

Bay then filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, alleging that Cassens had violated his rights under the ADA and the MHRA. Cassens moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted that motion on the ground that Bay had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Bay now appeals this grant of summary judgment, arguing that neither the ADA nor the MHRA require a plaintiff to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit.

II. Analysis

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See Johnson v. Zema Sys. Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 742 (7th Cir. 1999). In order to overcome summary judgment, Bay must show specific facts sufficient to raise a genuine issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see Shermer v. Illinois Dep't of Transp., 171 F.3d 475, 477 (7th Cir. 1999) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986)). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, we construe all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of that party. See Senner v. Northcentral Technical C., 113 F.3d 750, 754 (7th Cir. 1997). "A genuine issue for trial exists only when a reasonable jury could find for the party opposing the motion based on the record as a whole." Roger v. Yellow Freight Sys., Inc., 21 F.3d 146, 149 (7th Cir. 1994). In considering the district court's decision on appeal, we may affirm on a ground other than that relied on by the district court so long as it is adequately supported in the record and the law. See Divane v. Krull Electric Co., Inc., 200 F.3d 1020, 1026 (7th Cir. 1999).

The ADA provides that "no covered entity shall discriminate 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. sec. 12112(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. sec. 12111(8). A disability is then defined 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. sec. 12102(2).

In attempting to establish that Cassens violated the ADA through its refusal to allow him to return to work as a commercial truck driver, Bay relies on the "regarded as" prong of the ADA's disability definition. 42 U.S.C. sec. 12102(2)(C). Bay can demonstrate that he falls within the "regarded as" definition of a disability by showing that: "(1) a covered entity mistakenly believes that a person has a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, or (2) a covered entity mistakenly believes that an actual, nonlimiting impairment substantially limits one or more major life activities." Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 119 S.Ct. 2139, 2149-50 (1999). In this case, Bay contends that his rights under the ADA were violated when Cassens refused to allow him to return to work because it mistakenly believed the profound sinus bradycardia with near syncope and near fainting he suffered before implantation of the pacemaker substantially limited him in the major life activity of working (in this case, driving a truck).

Although the district court granted Cassens summary judgment on Bay's ADA claim based on Bay's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies, we first consider the threshold question of whether Bay has raised a genuine issue of material fact as to all the elements of an ADA claim. In this regard, much of Cassens's response to Bay's ADA claim focuses on Bay's failure to pass a recertification examination prior to the physical conducted by Dr. Pieper on March 6, 1998. First, Cassens contends that because DOT certification is a legitimate requirement for Bay's job as a commercial truck driver, Bay was not an "otherwise qualified" individual within the meaning of the ADA until he was recertified. Second, Cassens contends that because Bay did not produce any evidence that it refused to reinstate him because it regarded him as disabled, but rather only demonstrated that Cassens relied on Bay's lack of certification in making its decision, Bay cannot demonstrate that Cassens regarded Bay as disabled. Under both of these theories, Cassens asserts that its reliance on DOT regulations requiring commercial truck drivers to obtain certification precludes liability under the ADA as long as Cassens actually relied on those regulations in refusing to reinstate Bay.

It is well-established that a plaintiff has the burden of proving that he is "qualified" to perform the essential functions of the job he holds or seeks, with or without reasonable accommodation. ¹ See Best v. Shell Oil Co., 107 F.3d 544, 547-48 (7th Cir. 1997); Weiler v. Household Fin. Corp., 101 F.3d 519, 524 (7th Cir. 1996); DeLuca v. Winer Indus., Inc., 53 F.3d 793, 797 (7th Cir. 1995). Our inquiry into whether Bay was...