Cassimy v. Bd. of Educ. of Rockford Public Schools

• Decision Date: 05 September 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-2839.,05-2839.
• Citation: 461 F.3d 932
• Parties: Glenn CASSIMY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE ROCKFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS, DISTRICT # 205, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

461 F.3d 932

Glenn CASSIMY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE ROCKFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS, DISTRICT # 205, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 05-2839.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued February 17, 2006.

Decided September 5, 2006.

Rene Hernandez (argued), Rockford, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Thomas J. Lester (argued), Hinshaw & Culbertson, Rockford, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, and KANNE and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Glenn Cassimy, a former administrator and teacher in the Rockford School District, alleges that the defendant Board of Education (Board) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., when it both failed to accommodate his severe depression and retaliated against him by reclassifying him from "administrator" to "teacher." The district court granted summary judgment for the Board, finding that the undisputed facts showed that Cassimy was not disabled as the ADA uses that term, and that he had failed to present any evidence showing that the Board's explanation that it had reassigned him because of its dissatisfaction with his performance was pretextual. We affirm.

I

In August of 1995, the Board hired Cassimy to be the principal of McIntosh Elementary School, in Rockford. In 1997, it transferred him to the Rockford Science and Technology Academy (RSTA), again to serve as principal. At both McIntosh and RSTA, Cassimy received positive performance reviews. In 2001, the Board transferred Cassimy to the post of principal at the Washington Communication Academy (Washington). Around the same time, the Board hired a new superintendent of schools, Alan Brown.

Cassimy's job duties at Washington included typical responsibilities such as staff development, curriculum development, and teacher evaluations. He was also required to supervise all staff members, implement a magnet theme, supervise student discipline, and supervise building operations. Cassimy found the Washington job difficult and stressful. Although he had received excellent evaluations before his transfer to Washington, once there the teachers complained about him both to his supervisor and to their union representatives. The Rockford Educational Association, which was the teachers' union, accused Cassimy of not being available to the staff. It also charged that discipline was out of control at the school and that he was not adequately addressing or processing student referrals. Parents were unhappy with the way he handled discipline. Other complaints reached Area Superintendent Sharon Halton about things like Cassimy's lack of availability, his failure to issue timely discipline, and his inability to prepare an adequate master schedule. During this time period, Cassimy alleged that he did not receive any administrative support from either his immediate supervisors or the Board. That lack of support, coupled with the problems he experienced at Washington, caused him to suffer from stress and depression.

In light of all this, the Board eventually asked Cassimy to prepare a performance improvement plan to address his problems. Cassimy apparently prepared the plan, but before it could be implemented, he took a leave of absence beginning on November 21, 2000, claiming that he was suffering from work-related stress and anxiety and supporting his claim with a doctor's note. Cassimy sought treatment for his condition from Dr. Steven Mull, who prescribed Paxil and Xanax for his stress and depression. Shortly after his leave began, Cassimy talked on the telephone to Ann Anderson, the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. He told Anderson that it was impossible for him to function normally and that he was experiencing different levels of pressure on his brain. He could not read or write, he could not get up in the morning to get dressed, and he could not eat or sleep.

With this information in hand, the Board informed Cassimy on December 8 that it was designating his absence as medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, effective November 21, 2000. Cassimy responded on December 15 with a note from his doctor releasing him to return to work. Anderson, Halton, and Brown met on December 18 to decide what to do with him; they concluded that they would reassign Cassimy from his administrative position and place him in a classroom as a math teacher at Roosevelt Alternative High School beginning in January 2001. This temporary move did not entail any loss of salary. The Board did not want to return him to Washington or put him in another administrative position because of the performance problems he had been experiencing prior to his leave.

The Board's plan ran into trouble when it learned that Cassimy did not have a current valid Illinois teaching certificate— a fact that it may have known as early as December 18 (Cassimy's contention) or as late as February 2001 (the Board's version). This meant that Cassimy was not qualified to fill the vacant teaching position. Prior to the time the semester began, however, Cassimy had informed the Board that he could not return to work because of stress.

The Board then decided to create an assistant principal position for Cassimy at Auburn High School, where Cassimy would work on the development of the technology magnet theme of the school. Cassimy notified Anderson on March 20, 2001, that he intended to return to work by March 26 or 27, but that he would be restricted to working no more than six hours per day within the first month, and that he could not work on any special projects for the first two months. The Board concluded that these limitations were unreasonable, because it was a full-time position and because it did not see why he should be allowed "to pick and choose assignments." It formally denied his request on March 22.

On March 27, the Board informed Cassimy that it had officially approved the decision to reclassify him to the level of teacher, and that he therefore had to obtain a valid Illinois teaching certificate. Unlike the temporary move, the permanent reclassification carried with it a salary reduction. The Board explained that he, along with five other administrators, was being reclassified because of severe budget cuts. At first, Cassimy took steps to acquire the teaching certificate, but in August 2001, he told Anderson that he did not intend to apply for the certificate and that he was looking for work elsewhere. Before the start of the school year, Cassimy accepted a full-time position as an administrator with the New York City Public Schools effective September 2001, where he worked without any documented problems relating to stress, depression, or anxiety.

Before leaving for New York, Cassimy filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. His complaint alleged disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation because of his request for an accommodation. After receiving a right-to-sue letter, he filed this lawsuit on March 10, 2003, claiming violations of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a, and the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. While the suit was pending, in February 2003, Cassimy returned to Illinois and accepted a teaching position with the Chicago Public Schools. He alleges that he now suffers panic attacks every Sunday while he is working on his lesson plans, which makes that process take longer than it otherwise would—sometimes up to 12 hours because of the frequent breaks he must take. The Board filed a motion for summary judgment on December 1, 2004, which the district court granted. This appeal followed.

II

We consider first Cassimy's claims under the ADA, taking the facts in the light most favorable to him. The central question is whether the district court correctly concluded that Cassimy was not "disabled" for purposes of the statute. If that is correct, then neither his discrimination claim nor his failure to accommodate claim can proceed, as this is the first element of both claims. See Nese v. Julian Nordic Constr. Co., 405 F.3d 638, 642-43 (7th Cir. 2005); see generally 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a) (discrimination); 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A) (accommodation); McPhaul v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Madison County, 226 F.3d 558, 563 (7th Cir. 2000) (accommodation). We thus turn immediately to that question.

In order to show that he was disabled, Cassimy must show either (1) that he has a "physical or mental impairment that substantially limits [him in] one or more major life activities"; (2) that he "has a record of such an impairment"; or (3) that the employer "regarded [him] as having such an impairment." 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A)-(C). In one way or the other, each of these theories focuses on "major life activities." The Supreme Court has defined "major life activities" to include those activities that "are of central importance to daily life," such as "walking, seeing, and hearing." Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 197, 122 S.Ct. 681, 151 L.Ed.2d 615 (2002). This is a strict standard, as Toyota explicitly held. Id. Not every medical affliction amounts to, or gives rise to, a substantial limitation on a major life activity. See Nese, 405 F.3d at 642-43; Christian v. St. Anthony Med. Ctr., 117 F.3d 1051, 1053 (7th Cir.1997).

Like many illnesses, major depression may or may not give rise to a substantial limitation on a major life activity, depending on its severity. See Ogborn v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local No. 881, 305 F.3d 763, 767 (7th Cir. 2002) (noting that major depression can be a disability under the ADA); Schneiker v. Fortis Ins. Co., 200 F.3d 1055, 1061 (7th Cir. 2000) (holding major depression can be a disability, citing 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(h)(2), which defines a physical or mental impairment to include "[a]ny mental or psychological disorder"). The critical question in every...