Carney v. Martin Luther Home, Inc.

• Decision Date: 27 August 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-1798,86-1798
• Citation: 824 F.2d 643
• Parties: 44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 683, 43 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,236, 45 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,722, 56 USLW 2114 Saundra C. CARNEY, Appellant, v. MARTIN LUTHER HOME, INC., Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 643

824 F.2d 643

44 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 683,

43 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,236,

45 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 37,722, 56 USLW 2114

Saundra C. CARNEY, Appellant, v. MARTIN LUTHER HOME, INC., Appellee.

No. 86-1798.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted March 11, 1987.

Decided July 27, 1987.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Aug. 27, 1987.

Carole McMahon-Boies, Lincoln, Neb., for appellant.

Mary C. Wickenkamp, Lincoln, Neb., for appellee.

Before ARNOLD and FAGG, Circuit Judges, and LARSON, ^* Senior District Judge.

LARSON, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Saundra Carney appeals from the district court's decision in favor of her employer, defendant Martin Luther Home, Inc. Plaintiff argues that the defendant violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2, when it placed her on an unpaid leave during her pregnancy at a time when she remained able to perform her job. We agree that the employer's action in this case constitutes a Title VII violation, and, accordingly, we reverse the decision of the district court and remand with instructions that judgment be entered in favor of Carney.

Defendant Martin Luther Home operates an intermediate care facility for mentally retarded persons in Beatrice, Nebraska. Plaintiff had been employed by the Home since 1982. When she became pregnant in the fall of 1983, she held a split position of houseparent/adult services trainer. On weekdays, she began her duties as adult services trainer at 1:00 p.m. in the workshop area of the Home. ¹ As an adult services trainer, she worked in the PreVoc I section of the workshop, helping to teach a range of skills such as how to place objects in boxes, how to sort colors and how to put together items for sale to the public. Different groups of approximately five or six to twenty residents participated in the PreVoc I workshop programs. Besides the actual training activities, workshop staff were involved in escorting residents from the workshop area to other areas of the Home, which occasionally involved pushing a resident in a wheelchair. During the hours Carney worked in the workshop, there were approximately six or seven other staff in the PreVoc I section, as well as other staff in other areas of the workshop.

At 4:00 Carney assumed her duties as houseparent at the Maple Hall dormitory. Residents at the Home were generally grouped in the dormitories by age, sex and functioning level. Carney was houseparent to six to eight adolescent girls who were able to perform most day-to-day functions such as dressing, eating, walking and basic hygiene. These girls did not generally become aggressive either towards each other or towards the staff, although one experienced seizures and another occasionally displayed a "behavior" of falling to the floor. Carney went with the girls to supper, helped them bathe and brush their teeth, took them to evening recreational activities and helped them get ready for bed. One girl, who had recently had surgery, was for a time confined to a wheelchair and required more assistance than the other girls in performing these activities. At least two houseparents and frequently additional physical education staff were present at Maple Hall during the time Carney was with the girls.

Carney performed all of her duties while pregnant without any difficulty for the four and one half months prior to the time she was placed on medical leave by the Home. Her supervisors viewed her as a very good employee and never had any problems with the performance of her duties. In February, 1984, Carney went to see her physician's assistant, William Plymale, and reported that she had been experiencing some lightheadedness and dizziness. Plaintiff discussed the nature of her job with Plymale, who did not believe she should stop working, but who did recommend that for the duration of her pregnancy she should refrain from pushing or lifting without assistance. Plymale testified that this recommendation was no different from that which he would give to any pregnant individual. ² At plaintiff's request, Plymale made a note of his recommendation on a prescription pad, which Carney presented to her workshop supervisor, Susan Adams. ³ Adams indicated that plaintiff should not worry about it, since she could arrange for other staff to escort any residents in wheelchairs that needed to be pushed from the workshop to other areas of the Home.

Later in the day, plaintiff was called to a meeting with Eileen Simmons, the personnel director at Martin Luther Home. Simmons informed the plaintiff that because of the note, Carney would have to take an unpaid leave of absence and that after her baby was born Carney could be reconsidered for employment. Plaintiff returned to her job and worked the remainder of her shift that day without altering her tasks or responsibilities. Simmons then spoke with other officials at the Home, including Ken Wellensiek, Residential Coordinator, and Marge Cedarburg, Director of Programs. She did not, however, consult with either of Carney's two immediate supervisors to find out whether the restrictions plaintiff's doctor had placed on her activities would interfere with plaintiff's performance of her job. When Carney submitted a supplemental letter from Plymale to Simmons, Simmons reaffirmed that Carney would be placed on unpaid medical leave and that her job would be posted. Plaintiff received no salary from the Home until after the birth of her child when she was reemployed in a position at Linden Hall.

The district court found that at the time plaintiff was placed on unpaid leave, she could have performed her duties without difficulty. This finding is amply supported by the evidence and is not challenged by the Home on appeal. Plaintiff testified that she in fact would not have altered the performance of her job as a result of Plymale's recommendations, and it is undisputed that the Home's policy required employees to obtain assistance in lifting any resident. Moreover, plaintiff presented evidence that other employees with similar restrictions had continued to work at the Home and had performed their jobs successfully. For example, Cynthia Lillibridge, who was also an adult services trainer/houseparent at Maple Hall, testified that she became pregnant in 1982 and received instructions from her physician not to perform any heavy lifting. A letter from her physician was presented to her supervisors, and Lillibridge continued to perform her duties until she took maternity leave, after which she returned to her same position. Cynthia Scheideler, a houseparent at Cedar Hall, a geriatric dormitory at the Home, also became pregnant during her employment and was advised by her doctor not to perform any heavy lifting. Scheideler presented a note from her physician to this effect and testified that her pregnancy in no way affected her ability to do the work she was assigned. After a six week maternity leave, Scheideler returned to her same position at the Home. Finally, Anna Hogan, an on-call houseparent and physical education recreation staff member assigned to Maple Hall, testified that after she became pregnant in 1983, she was involved in an automobile accident and was advised by her doctor to restrict her pushing and lifting. Hogan, like Lillibridge and Scheideler, informed her supervisor of the restrictions and continued to perform her duties as before.

Although recognizing that plaintiff was placed on leave at a time when she was fully able to perform her job, the district court nonetheless concluded that the Home did not discriminate against Carney. The court analyzed plaintiff's claim under the disparate treatment test of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973) and Texas Department of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981), and concluded that plaintiff had failed to show that defendant's articulated reason for its actions--the "concern as to liability should the plaintiff become injured, or should a client become injured ... combined with concern over whether the plaintiff could carry out her job responsibilities"--was pretextual. Plaintiff challenges the district court's analysis, claiming that she submitted direct evidence of discrimination under Title VII and that the defendant failed to establish that such discrimination was justified as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).

It is undisputed that plaintiff was placed on leave as a result of a medical condition arising from her pregnancy and that, despite this condition, she could have performed her job successfully. The issue in this appeal is to what extent Title VII protects pregnant women in such circumstances.

I. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act Amendment to Title VII

Title VII declares it unlawful for an employer to discharge or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such individual's sex. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2. In 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), which declares that discrimination on the basis of "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions" constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII. The Act amended Title VII's definitional section as follows:

The terms "because of sex" or "on the basis of sex" include, but are not limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work....

42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e(k).

The immediate impetus for the PDA arose from the Supreme Court's decision in General Electric Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 97 S.Ct. 401, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976), in...