Conner v. Reckitt & Colman, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 June 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2923,95-2923
• Citation: 84 F.3d 1100
• Parties: 8 NDLR P 116 Patsy L. CONNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RECKITT & COLMAN, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1100

84 F.3d 1100

8 NDLR P 116

Patsy L. CONNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RECKITT & COLMAN, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 95-2923.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Jan. 12, 1996.

Decided June 4, 1996.

David C. Vaughn, III, argued, Springfield, MO, for appellant.

Todd A. Johnson, argued, Springfield, MO (Lester J. Boyle, III, on the brief), for appellee.

Before RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, JOHN R. GIBSON, and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Patsy L. Conner appeals from an order of the district court ¹ granting her former employer's motion for summary judgment in her suit alleging she was fired because of her disability and because she filed a workers' compensation claim. Conner argues that the statute of limitations did not bar her disability claim and that summary judgment was inappropriate because she had not completed discovery. We affirm.

Conner worked for Reckitt & Colman, Inc. on its second shift at its Springfield, Missouri distribution center when she was fired on September 28, 1992. At the time she was fired, Conner was receiving medical treatment for her left knee, which she injured while working at Reckitt & Colman. Eight months after she was fired, Conner asked Reckitt & Colman to make reasonable accommodations for her disability so she could return to work. Reckitt & Colman never responded to this request.

Reckitt & Colman stated that it fired Conner because she worked on its second shift, and it sold all of its second shift business. Once that business was sold, Reckitt & Colman no longer needed its second shift workers. Reckitt & Colman stated that Conner was one of twelve workers it fired, and that it has not replaced Conner.

On September 2, 1993, Conner filed a charge with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, claiming that Reckitt & Colman discriminated against her based on her disability. Once the commission gave Conner a "Right-to-Sue" letter, she filed suit in federal district court. Conner claimed that Reckitt & Colman had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12112 (1994), and Missouri law, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 213.055.1(1)(a) (1994), by firing her because of her injury and by failing to respond to her later request that it make reasonable accommodations for her disability so she could return to work. Conner also claimed that Reckitt & Colman violated section 287.780 of the Missouri statutes by firing her in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim because of her injured knee.

In response to Reckitt & Colman's motion for summary judgment, Conner argued that the statute of limitations did not bar her claims. In addition Conner stated that Reckitt & Colman had not completely answered her interrogatories and requests for documents and that she did not have an opportunity to schedule depositions. Despite her objections, Conner refused to schedule depositions, and failed to file a motion to compel Reckitt & Colman to more fully answer her interrogatories and requests for documents.

On June 22, 1995, the district court granted Reckitt & Colman's motion for summary judgment, holding that the statute of limitations for Conner's claims of disability discrimination was 300 days and that she filed her charge more than 300 days after Reckitt & Colman fired her. The district court also held that Conner had not produced any evidence to support her claim that Reckitt &amp Colman fired her in retaliation for filing her workers' compensation claim. Conner appeals. ²

I.

Conner argues that she filed her disability discrimination claim in time because she filed it within 300 days of Reckitt & Colman's failure to respond to her May 26, 1993 request for reasonable accommodations. Conner does not dispute that the statute of limitations bars her claim if the only act of discrimination is her firing. Conner argues, however, that Reckitt & Colman discriminated against her twice, first by firing her on September 28, 1992 because of her knee injury, and second by refusing to accommodate her disability by not responding to her May 26, 1993 request. Conner also asserts that these two acts constitute a continuing violation of the ADA.

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. McKee v. Federal Kemper Life Assurance Co., 927 F.2d 326, 328 (8th Cir.1991). Summary judgment is appropriate if there are no disputed issues of material fact and Reckitt & Colman is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

The statute of limitations for a disability discrimination claim under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12117 (1994) (incorporating 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5), is 300 days. The statute of limitations begins to run at the time of the discriminatory act, and not when the consequences of the act become most painful. Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 258, 101 S.Ct. 498, 504, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980).

Ricks requires us to reject Conner's argument that Reckitt & Colman committed unlawful discrimination by not responding to her request for reasonable accommodations. Assuming Reckitt & Colman fired Conner because of her disability, the firing constitutes the discriminatory act. Reckitt & Colman's failure to consider her later request for accommodation was merely a consequence of its discriminatory act.

We also reject Conner's argument that Reckitt & Colman's firing of Conner and its later failure to answer her letter constitute a continuing violation that tolls the statute of limitations. The firing of an employee cannot be a continuing violation, Rudolph v. Wagner Elec. Corp., 586 F.2d 90, 92 (8th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 924, 99 S.Ct. 2033, 60 L.Ed.2d 397 (1979), even when the effects of the firing are felt later, see Ashley v. Boyle's Famous Corned Beef Co., 66 F.3d 164, 167 (8th Cir.1995) (en banc). Conner's employment relationship with Reckitt & Colman ended when she was fired. Reckitt & Colman cannot continue to discriminate against Conner...