Beck v. University of Wisconsin Bd. of Regents, 95-2479

• Decision Date: 26 January 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2479,95-2479
• Citation: 75 F.3d 1130
• Parties: , 106 Ed. Law Rep. 1052, 5 A.D. Cases 304, 14 A.D.D. 904, 7 NDLR P 311 Lorraine BECK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BOARD OF REGENTS, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Chancellor John Schroeder, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1130

75 F.3d 1130

64 USLW 2469, 106 Ed. Law Rep. 1052,

5 A.D. Cases 304,

14 A.D.D. 904, 7 NDLR P 311

Lorraine BECK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BOARD OF REGENTS, University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Chancellor John

Schroeder, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 95-2479.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Dec. 1, 1995.

Decided Jan. 26, 1996.

Milton S. Padway (argued), Mark J. Goldstein, and M. Nicol Padway, Padway & Padway, Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

James E. Doyle, Office of the Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice and Richard Briles Moriarty (argued), Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before CUMMINGS, CUDAHY and FLAUM, Circuit Judges.

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.

This appeal concerns the alleged failure of the University of Wisconsin to provide "reasonable accommodations" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. ("ADA"), to Lorraine Beck, an employee of the University from 1967 to 1993 who suffered from osteoarthritis and depression during the latter part of her employment. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of the University, and we now affirm.

I.

Beck began full-time employment with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1967. In 1979, she became Secretary to the Dean of the School of Nursing, a position that she held for 11 years. In August 1991, Beck began a three-month medical leave for conditions described to the University as "multiple medical conditions" and "post viral fatigue." Before taking leave, she had frequently stated that her secretarial position required two full-time employees and a student helper and she made informal inquiries into a possible transfer, but no formal application was made. Beck returned on October 7, 1991, and was then assigned to the Department of Health Maintenance in the School of Nursing, a position with substantially different duties but the same classification and salary as her secretarial position.

For the first month in her new position, Beck was not required to perform any regular duties but was instead allowed to learn and practice the word-processing program in her own office. Thereafter, she suffered from osteoarthritis aggravated by repetitive keyboarding. A February 1992 letter from her doctor stated, in part, "I would recommend, if possible, that she avoid repetitive keyboard use, in which case, quite possibly her symptoms will resolve." In general, Beck believed that her overall workload needed to be reduced, and her immediate supervisor, Linda Bennett, was aware of this fact. In May 1992, Beck was hospitalized with severe depression and anxiety, which she claims was a direct result of the stress of her new job and the lack of training and support in that job. She returned to work on June 9, 1992, with the following letter from her doctor Mrs. Lorraine Beck is released to return to work on Thursday June 11, 1992. She is to work one half day on Thursday and she is to work full days thereafter. She has suffered recurrent major depression. This is a serious medical illness and may require some reasonable accommodation so that she does not have a recurrence of this condition.

Beck's employer sought to have her sign a release allowing the University to obtain further information from her doctor. She did not sign the release, no further information was provided, a scheduled meeting to discuss possible accommodations never took place, and Beck continued in her job.

In July 1992, Beck took medical leave again. Upon returning to work on August 10, 1992, she gave the University the following letter from her doctor:

Lorraine Beck has completed (9) days of hospitalization for depression and medication readjustment. In returning to work on 8/10/92 she may require appropriate assistance with her work load. An adjustable computer keyboard would be helpful in preventing further difficulties with her hands. All in all, tayloring [sic] her work load to what she & your staff feel she can realistically accomplish, would do much to assist in her transition back to work, and future productivity.

Also upon returning, Beck received a memorandum from Bruno Wolff, the assistant dean, stating that he did not understand what accommodations were necessary and, until he received more information, she would be assigned to work directly with Bennett and would receive all tasks from Bennett. Wolff also informed her that she would be temporarily moved from room 536 to room 636, which Beck describes as a small, isolated, cold room with no exterior windows.

During the time Beck worked in room 636, she was not given an adjustable keyboard, but was instead given a wrist rest. She was also given much less work than other secretaries. The University claims that the August 10 reassignment was intended to reduce Beck's apparent stress level by reducing the number of people who could assign her work, eliminating "rush" projects, and assuring that she was only assigned one task at a time. Beck ultimately received much less work than Bennett expected, which may have been due to her lack of proficiency with the word-processing program and the fact that her tasks were limited to non-rush, overflow work. Bennett did, however, assign Beck to the switchboard for extended periods to keep her occupied. Nonetheless, Beck asserts that her attempts to seek out work or otherwise occupy her time were either rejected or ignored.

Beck also alleges that the assignment from room 536 to 636 was a great source of stress. She complains that room 636 had poor ventilation, was cold and damp, and had no exterior windows. Room 536, however, also had no exterior windows. Bennett claims that temperature fluctuations existed throughout the building and were beyond her control. The University further alleges that it moved Beck so that she would be closer to Bennett and would not have to share an office as she had in room 536. Also, the University attempted to find her an office even closer to Bennett but was unable to do so. The other available offices were all located in high traffic areas or were much smaller. The University planned to wait for the expected retirement of workers on the seventh floor before relocating her.

On September 25, 1992, Beck went on medical leave for the third time and received electric-shock therapy. She requested and was granted a six-month unpaid medical leave of absence in November 1992, which was later extended until October 1993. Beck filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") in June 1993, asserting that her rights under the ADA and a federal age discrimination law were violated. Having satisfied all procedural requirements, she filed suit in the district court in September 1993 under Title I of the ADA. After filing suit, Beck requested that she be reinstated at the University in a different department. Her request was denied and she was told that she had to report to work again in the Department of Health Maintenance. She did not and was therefore terminated by the University.

Defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing primarily that the University did not know exactly what accommodations were necessary and that it was only able to accommodate Beck based on available information. Beck's summary judgment response for the first time made detailed allegations regarding the move to "a small, isolated, cold and damp file room," the fact that Bennett gave "her nothing to do," and the fact that defendants never provided her with an adjustable keyboard. Defendants' summary judgment reply included an affidavit from Bennett regarding the new allegations in Beck's response. ^* The district court entered summary judgment against Beck, and she now appeals. We review the district court's decision de novo, with all evidence submitted and the legitimate inferences to be drawn therefrom viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff. East Food & Liquor, Inc. v. United States, 50 F.3d 1405, 1410 (7th Cir.1995).

II.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals. 42 U.S.C. § 12112. The prohibition extends not only to denial of employment opportunities based on vocationally irrelevant disabilities, but extends to discrimination based on disabilities that impair the individual's ability to perform her job. Vande Zande v. State of Wis. Dep't of Admin., 44 F.3d 538, 541 (7th Cir.1995). Thus the ADA defines discrimination as including an employer's "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 [employer] can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of such [employer]...." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A).

The central issue in this appeal is whether the University provided Beck with reasonable accommodations. Beck claims it did not. The University claims that it never understood exactly what accommodations Beck required, that it tried in vain to determine what accommodations were necessary, and that it provided the best accommodations possible given its limited understanding of Beck's disability. The University essentially argues that it would have provided reasonable accommodations if Beck had simply told them what to do. Beck responds in the alternative, stating that she did tell the University what to do or that the University should have known what to do. Thus the crux of this dispute is one not clearly answered by the ADA: does the employer or the employee bear ultimate responsibility for determining exactly what accommodations are needed?

An employee has the initial duty to inform the employer of a disability before ADA liability may be triggered for failure to provide accommodations--a duty dictated by common sense lest a disabled employee keep his disability a secret and sue later for failure...