Brown v. IL Central Railroad Co.

• Decision Date: 20 June 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00-2349,00-2349
• Citation: 254 F.3d 654
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2001) Robert Brown, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Illinois Central Railroad Company, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 654

254 F.3d 654 (7th Cir. 2001)

Robert Brown, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Illinois Central Railroad Company, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 00-2349

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Argued January 22, 2001

Decided June 20, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 97 C 4836--Charles P. Kocoras, Judge.

Before Bauer, Kanne, and Evans, Circuit Judges.

Bauer, Circuit Judge.

Robert Brown, aided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") as amicus curiae, appeals the district court's dismissal of a claim which he brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101, et seq. for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The district court found that Brown's claim was precluded by the mandatory arbitration provisions of the Railway Labor Act ("RLA") 45 U.S.C. sec. 151, et seq. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Illinois Central Railroad Company ("IC") is a "carrier" by rail under the RLA and an "employer" under the ADA headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. IC's operations are divided into several departments, which in turn are subdivided into various groups of employees, or "crafts." Each craft has its own separate identity, with its own collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"), work rules, and seniority. Brown has worked in IC's Transportation Department in the trainman/brakeman/switchman ("trainman") craft¹ since 1979. IC's trainmen are represented by the United Transportation Union ("UTU"), which has entered into a CBA with IC on their behalf.

IC has two types of trainman positions-- regularly scheduled, and "guaranteed extra board" ("GEB"). GEB trainmen fill in for absent regular trainmen and allow the railroad to cope with unexpected surges in operations (such as the unscheduled arrival of trains in the yard) which create a need for extra workers on short notice. Prior to May of 1995, IC had two types of GEB positions-- "yard" and "road." Trainmen who were assigned to yard jobs worked in a prescribed geographical area and had restricted starting times. Yard GEBs had two assigned days off per week, while road GEBs had no assigned days off. In May of 1995, IC eliminated the yard GEB position. Work that had previously been performed by yard GEBs has since been performed by road GEBs, like Brown.

Road GEB trainmen at IC are called to work according to the following procedure: GEB trainmen are listed on a "call board," with the trainman who has been without a job assignment for the longest period of time at the top, followed in descending order by each trainmen who has worked more recently. When a fill-in worker is needed, an IC crew dispatcher calls the GEB trainman at the top of the list and assigns him to work. While he is working, his name is taken off of the call board. When the trainman finishes his assignment, he "marks back up," meaning that his name is put back on the call board, this time at the bottom of the list. As those above him are called to jobs, their names are taken off the call board, and the worker at the bottom moves up the board until he is again at the top, making him eligible to be called to work when the need arises. This cycle repeats itself continually, constantly changing the order of the trainmen on the list. Regularly scheduled (non-GEB) trainmen have a specific work schedule and location. They work six days per week on a regular basis, and have one assigned day off per week. By contrast, GEB trainmen do not have assigned days off. The CBA requires IC to staff the GEB with a sufficient number of employees so as to permit both regular and GEB employees to have "reasonable layoffs," but the CBA does not define what constitutes a "reasonable" layoff. Trainmen with the most seniority at IC fill the regular, six day per week positions. Since it abolished all yard jobs in May of 1995, IC has taken the position that GEB employees be available for work seven days per week, 24 hours a day (subject to the federal hours of service laws). The CBA guarantees GEB trainmen payment for each day they are on GEB status and available to work,² regardless of whether they actually work. However, Brown disputes whether seven day per week, 24 hours a day availability is a requirement of the GEB trainman position.

Brown began working for IC in October of 1978, and transferred to the trainman craft in May of 1979. Brown was qualified as a conductor in May 1980, and worked in that position for approximately eight years. At some point during his employment, Brown was diagnosed by his personal physician as having schizoaffective disorder. He was first hospitalized for this condition in 1988, suffering from depression, paranoia, and suicidal feelings. Schizoaffective disorder can interfere with an individual's ability to learn new concepts, and, according to the testimony of one of Brown's treating physicians, it can cause hallucinations, disorganized thinking, delusions, obsessions, social withdrawal, and depressive episodes.

In November of 1989, Brown's personal physician informed IC that Brown's psychiatric condition rendered him unable to withstand the stress associated with the supervisory tasks performed by conductors or foremen, and limited him to "helper only" jobs, such as brakeman or switchman. The parties dispute whether IC immediately accommodated Brown's psychiatric condition, however they agree that since at least April of 1993 IC has allowed Brown to work only "helper" trainman's jobs. This was done while Brown continued to work off of the call board. If a conductor job opened up while Brown was at the top of the list, he would decline the job and it would be assigned to the next trainman on the list. Prior to the reclassification of yard trainman jobs in May of 1995, Brown held a GEB yard job which required him to work various shifts five days per week, with assigned days off on Mondays and Tuesdays. IC found Brown medically qualified to perform this job. Beginning in June 1995, after assigned rest days were eliminated for all GEB positions, Brown generally would lay off sick on a routine basis two days per week. For approximately one year, IC made no objection to this practice. During this time, Brown's work was generally acceptable and he was never disciplined for poor attendance.

In February of 1996, several months after all Chicago GEB yard assignments were eliminated and replaced with road crews, John Kay became Superintendent of IC's Chicago area operations. Starting the following May, Kay analyzed employee work records which showed the number of days that individual employees were laying off work. After concluding that several employees were laying off excessively, Kay met with several trainmen, including Brown, to discuss their attendance. Kay insisted that Brown be available for work seven days a week. At a meeting on June 11, 1996, Brown gave Kay a note from his physician restricting him to working a maximum of five days a week due to his disorder. IC did not provide Brown the accommodation he requested, and it medically disqualified him from employment on June 13, 1996 on the ground that he would not be available to work seven days per week as required by the GEB trainman position.

Brown remains on IC's seniority list and according to IC he is eligible to return to work if his restrictions are lifted or GEB requirements change. At the time of his disqualification, all regular (6 day per week) trainmen positions were held by trainmen with higher seniority than Brown. However, by the time this case was litigated in the district court, some of those positions were held by employees with less seniority than Brown. At the time of his disqualification, Brown ranked 216th out of 226 on the seniority list, meaning that only 10 trainmen had less seniority than Brown.

UTU urged IC to accommodate Brown, and after IC medically disqualified Brown, UTU pursued a labor grievance on his behalf contending that his disqualification violated the CBA and that he was entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The Public Law Board denied Brown's CBA claims and declined to address his ADA claims, accepting IC's argument that it lacked the statutory authority to resolve such claims.

After filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC and receiving a Notice of Right to Sue, Brown filed suit under the ADA, claiming that he was qualified to work as a GEB trainman with the reasonable accommodation of being allowed to lay off two days per week, and that IC violated the ADA by disqualifying him from work. Brown was examined by Dr. Alexander Obolsky, plaintiff's expert witness, who opined that it was not necessary that Brown always work exactly five days, followed by two consecutive days off; rather, Brown could work as few as three or as many as to six or seven days in a row (as his condition allowed), so long as he worked five days out of every seven on average. IC moved for summary judgment arguing that Brown's schizoaffective disorder is not a "disability" under the ADA, that Brown is not a "qualified individual," and that the accommodation that Brown proposed was not "reasonable." The district court denied the motion, finding that genuine issues of material fact existed as to these issues. IC then moved to dismiss, arguing that because the resolution of Brown's claim required the court to construe various provisions of the CBA, the RLA precluded Brown from bringing his claim in court, and therefore the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the claim. Accepting IC's arguments, the district court dismissed Brown's ADA claim, and Brown has appealed.

DISCUSSION

The sole issue presented for review is whether the mandatory arbitration provisions of the RLA preclude Brown from bringing his ADA claim in federal court, thereby stripping the district court of subject-matter jurisdiction. The district court answered this question in the...