Dockery v. North Shore Medical Center, 94-2748-CIV.

• Decision Date: 04 December 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-2748-CIV.,94-2748-CIV.
• Citation: 909 F. Supp. 1550
• Parties: Angie DOCKERY, Plaintiff, v. NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

909 F. Supp. 1550

Angie DOCKERY, Plaintiff, v. NORTH SHORE MEDICAL CENTER, Defendant.

No. 94-2748-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

December 4, 1995.

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Rafael Centurion, Miami, FL, for plaintiff.

Ronald M. Rosengarten, Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen & Quentel, P.A., Miami, FL, for defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ATKINS, Senior District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant North Shore Medical Center, Inc.'s (North Shore) Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. After reviewing North Shore's Motion, Plaintiff Angie Dockery's (Dockery) Response,¹ filed affidavits, the submitted deposition of Ms. Dockery, and the entire record in the case, it is

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:

(1) The motion is GRANTED. This case is hereby CLOSED, all other pending matters are hereby DENIED as moot.

(2) North Shore shall not recover costs or attorney's fees in this cause.

FACTS

This case involves a claim by Plaintiff, Angie Dockery, that her previous employer, North Shore Medical Center, Inc., violated the Americans with Disabilities Act § 12101 et seq., by terminating her employment on the basis of her alleged disability. From July of 1990 until April 1993, Dockery, a diabetic, worked for North Shore, first as a Food Service Representative, and then as a cook. Sometime before March 1993, as a result of her diabetic condition, Dockery developed problems with her right foot, resulting in instructions by her physician that she should not be standing at work. As the condition of her foot worsened, Dockery was granted a leave of absence from work on March 1, 1993. A little more than three weeks later, on March 25, 1993, Dockery underwent surgery to amputate four of her toes and part of her right foot. It is uncontroverted that, after the operation, Plaintiff was essentially bed-ridden and unable to perform any work.

Shortly after the operation, Dockery phoned North Shore and asked her supervisor, Ms. Shaw, to come to see her. Upon Shaw's arrival, Dockery informed her that she could not continue to work as a cook and requested a year's leave of absence with partial salary. Shaw informed Dockery that North Shore would not grant her request and, instead, explained that she could terminate Dockery from North Shore's employ, thus freeing her to receive disability benefits. Shaw also added that, after one year, if Dockery was able to return to work, she would "probably" be re-hired.² Dockery, although desiring paid leave as the best option, acquiesced to the plan and, according to later testimony, referred to the decision as being "good" because it meant that she would be entitled to some aid—in the form of disability benefits.

Upon being discharged from the hospital Dockery immediately applied for disability benefits, representing that she was totally disabled as a result of her operation. Her application was, seemingly,³ approved and she began receiving benefits. Around this time, however, Dockery also contacted her attorney, Rafael Centurion, in the hope of obtaining some legal remedy for her situation. A complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and that agency provided Dockery with the appropriate "right to sue" notice on October 14, 1994. Dockery filed this present action, within the appropriate time, on December 30, 1994.

Today, Dockery contends that she could do "light" work for North Shore, but also admits that she never contacted North Shore about this possibility and has never requested that she be reinstated.⁴ Admitting all of the above facts to be true, Dockery nevertheless today takes the position that her termination was discriminatory in purpose and violated the protections of the ADA.

In the present motion, North Shore moves for summary judgment on the following theories. First, North Shore contends that, as a matter of law, when a Plaintiff in an ADA case applies for and receives disability benefits, she is automatically estopped from bringing a claim under the ADA. Second, North Shore argues that, Dockery's admission that she was totally disabled at the time of her termination disqualifies her from the protections of the ADA, given that a totally disabled individual is not a "qualified individual" for purposes of the statute. Finally, North Shore puts forth the argument that, even if Dockery is allowed to bring suit under the ADA, there is no basis for finding that North Shore acted in discriminatory fashion by terminating her.

STANDARD OF REVIEW IN RULE 56 MOTIONS

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56, a party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). First, the moving party bears the burden of identifying the portions of the record, including pleadings, depositions, admissions, answers to interrogatories, and affidavits, which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corporation v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Tipton v. Bergrohr GMBH-Siegen, 965 F.2d 994, 998 (11th Cir.1992). Once the moving party meets this burden, it is the non-moving party's responsibility to "go beyond the pleadings" by filing affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or admissions and pointing to specific facts which show there is a genuine issue of material fact. Tipton, 965 F.2d at 998.

In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the court must consider all the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Earley v. Champion Int'l. Corp., 907 F.2d 1077, 1080 (11th Cir.1990). If the record presents factual issues, the court must not decide them; it must deny the motion and proceed to trial. Clemons v. Dougherty County, Ga., 684 F.2d 1365, 1368-69 (11th Cir.1982). Applying this rigorous standard to the facts as they are presented to the Court, it is clear that no disputed issues of material fact exist to aid Plaintiff in resisting this motion.

THE ADA

Before a plaintiff can convince a court to decide on the merits of an ADA claim, she must first prove that she is entitled to the ADA's protections. The ADA prohibits discrimination "against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to" employment status — including termination. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). "Discrimination" includes "not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an ... employee, unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of such covered entity." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A).

For the purposes of the present motion, both the Court and North Shore readily admit that Dockery is disabled as that term is contemplated under the ADA. However, merely having a disability does not automatically extend the protections of the ADA to that individual. Congress specifically limited the ADA's protections to only those disabled individuals who are otherwise qualified to hold the position in question. See 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8); 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(m) (1994). Thus, the central question is whether Dockery is an "otherwise qualified individual" and, therefore, capable of invoking the ADA's protections.

On one level, North Shore's motion for summary judgment makes the assumption that if an employee is totally disabled at the time of her termination, then she is not protected under the ADA as a qualified individual. It is undisputed in this case that Dockery, at the time of her termination, and for a period of at least six-months, was totally disabled and incapable of performing any work. It is also undisputed that Dockery, even today, could not perform her previous job as a cook, and would need to be reassigned to a position with less physical demands.

Dockery's mere admitted incapacitation at the time of her termination, however, does not, as North Shore contends, automatically lead to the legal conclusion that she is not a qualified individual under the ADA. According to the ADA, a "qualified individual" is one who "with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds...." 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8). A reasonable accommodation is an accommodation that would "enable the employer's employees with disabilities to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by employees without disabilities." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o). A reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to, such ameliorations as: (1) additional unpaid leave; (2) job restructuring; (3) part-time or modified work schedules; or even (4) reassignment to a vacant position. 42 U.S.C. § 12111(9)(B). Further, an employer must provide such "reasonable accommodations," unless it can be shown that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A). Thus, a person, totally disabled at one point, may be considered a qualified individual if the allowance of a leave of absence or possible reassignment would provide them the opportunity to resume working at a later date.

To this end, Dockery maintains that, with certain reasonable accommodations, she would have been able, eventually, to return to work, and should therefore be considered an qualified individual. From the record,⁵ it appears that Dockery is arguing that had she been granted extended leave, either with or without pay, and then reassigned to a position requiring limited physical exertion, she would have been able to continue in North Shore's employ. The failure of North Shore to provide these allegedly reasonable accommodations is the gravamen of Dockery's case. If the record can support an inference that North Shore should have provided these...