Donlin v. Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc.
| Decision Date | 12 February 2021 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 17-395 JCH/JHR |
| Parties | MATTHEW J. DONLIN, Plaintiff, v. PETCO ANIMAL SUPPLIES STORES, INC. A Foreign Profit Corporation, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
This employment case is before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 52). At issue is whether the Defendant, Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. ("Petco"), violated the statutory and common law rights of its former employee, Plaintiff Matthew J. Donlin ("Donlin"). Donlin asserts Petco violated statutory rights protected by the New Mexico Human Rights Act ("NMHRA"), N.M. Stat. Ann. § 28-1-7(A), Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12112, and Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2614 & § 2615(a), f. Having considered the motion, briefs, evidence, and applicable law, the Court concludes that there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether Petco's failure to reinstate Donlin to his position on May 10, 2015, after taking FMLA leave, violated the NMHRA, ADA, and FMLA, and therefore the motion for summary judgment should be denied as to those claims. The Court, however, will grant Petco's request for summary judgment to the extent the NMHRA and ADA claims are based on Petco's failure to reinstate Donlin to his position in August 2015 and on Petco's termination of Donlin's employment in January 2016 for failing to submit needed information concerning his November 2015 medical restrictions. As for Petco's request for summary judgment on Donlin's retaliatory discharge claim, the Court will reserve ruling until the parties file additional briefs on the issue of causation.
Summary judgment is warranted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A fact is considered material if it may affect the outcome of the case based on the governing law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-50 (1986). An issue is "genuine" if the evidence is such that it might lead a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Tabor v. Hilti, Inc., 703 F.3d 1206, 1215 (10th Cir. 2013). In analyzing a motion for summary judgment, a court must view the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. See Jones v. Norton, 809 F.3d 564, 573 (10th Cir. 2015). When "the moving party does not bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial, it may satisfy its burden at the summary judgment stage by identifying a lack of evidence for the nonmovant on an essential element of the nonmovant's claim." Cassara v. DAC Servs., Inc., 276 F.3d 1210, 1212 (10th Cir. 2002) (internal quotations omitted). The burden then shifts to the opposing party to come forward with admissible evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on that element. See id.
Petco hired Donlin as a Sales Associate in 2004, eventually promoting him to General Manager in 2006. Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J. ("MSJ"), Undisputed Fact ("UF")2 ¶ 1, ECF No. 52; Pl.'s Dep. 32:11-20, ECF No. 54-1. In about 2014 or 2015, Donlin transferred to the Albuquerque store and reported to District Manager Rick Coughlin. Def.'s MSJ, UF ¶ 2, ECF No. 52.
Dr. Sharon Nunez began treating Donlin in 2010 and she diagnosed him with osteoarthritis, sciatica, and fibromyalgia, a serious, chronic pain condition. Def.'s MSJ, UF ¶ 7, ECF No. 52; Nunez Dep. 6:13-8:18, 9:22-11:18, ECF No. 54-4. Although Donlin was always in pain, his condition fluctuated day to day, and he was generally able to manage it and work. See Nunez Dep. 19:11-23, 38:23-41:2, 139:4-16, ECF No. 54-4. When his pain flared up and was high, his work duties took longer. Pl.'s Dep. 76:9-77:17, ECF No. 54-1. To compensate for his difficulties concentrating, he at times worked 9-to-10-hour days, instead of his ordinary 8-to-9-hour days. See Pl.'s Dep. 285:15-286:12, ECF No. 54-1. When Donlin had flare ups, he usually was able to recover from them with two or three days of rest or change in activity. Nunez Dep. 46:15-47:2, ECF No. 54-4. Donlin worked successfully as a Petco General Manager for approximately five years with his fibromyalgia diagnosis. Pl.'s Resp., UF ¶ AA, ECF No. 54.3
In early 2015, Donlin suffered a severe flareup of his fibromyalgia, so Dr. Nunez recommended he take a leave of absence from work. See Nunez Dep. 22:22-26:2, ECF No. 54-4. Around February 12, 2015, Donlin requested 2-3 weeks of FMLA leave. Def.'s MSJ, UF ¶ 10, ECF No. 52. Dr. Nunez certified that Donlin was unable to perform his job functions during the severe flare, specifically standing, sitting, and handling multiple tasks. Id. Petco granted Donlin's request for FMLA leave and he received short-term disability benefits from UNUM, Petco's third-party disability insurance provider, which made all decisions about benefit eligibility independently. Id., UF ¶¶ 11-13. Donlin subsequently requested extensions of his FMLA leave,which Petco repeatedly granted until he exhausted his 12 weeks of FMLA leave on May 9, 2015. Id., UF ¶¶ 14-17.
Petco's Leave Team is responsible for all return-to-work and accommodation decisions. Pl.'s Resp., UF ¶ H, ECF No. 54. According to Petco's return-to-work policy, when it receives a full duty return to work release (a release without restrictions), the employee is returned to work without further ado. Pl.'s Resp., UF ¶ H, ECF No. 54. If the employee has been released with restrictions, the Leave Team's next step is to start interactive discussions - to obtain feedback from either the employees' supervisor, store leader, district manager, or Human Resources ("HR") Business Partner to determine what the actual job consists of and the ability to accommodate those restrictions. See Pl.'s Resp., UF ¶ H, ECF No. 54; Puente-Sandoval Dep. 8:5-9:18, ECF No. 54-2; Radcliffe Dep. 12:6-9, ECF No. 52-5. Once Petco receives feedback, it circles back with the employee to provide next steps. See Puente-Sandoval Dep. 8:17-18, ECF No. 54-2. When a return-to-work release form includes restrictions that are not clear, Petco provides the employee an accommodations packet to assist with getting clarification so that Petco can evaluate possible accommodations. Def.'s MSJ, UF ¶ 30, ECF No. 52. When sufficient information is available to determine what accommodations can be made, Petco provides those accommodations so the employee can perform his job. Id., UF ¶ 31. Petco considered returning an employee to work with the restriction as an accommodation; for example, an accommodation of assistance when lifting something over 25 pounds when a 25-pound lifting restriction is in place. See Radcliffe Dep. 82:24-83:23, ECF No. 52-8.
Petco's written job description for the General Manager position listed as "Essential Job Functions" that the "candidate must demonstrate, with or without an accommodation," the following: (i) interact professionally through written and verbal communications; (ii) hire, train, develop, manage, and motivate a sales team through effective management and customer service; (iii) accomplish multiple management tasks in a timely manner by planning and managing workload, delegating work, and supervising subordinate managers and associates; (iv) exercise good business and personnel management skills; (v) meet and manage store profitability projections and shrink budgets; (vi) have an interest in animal welfare; and (vii) move merchandise up to 50 pounds. Def.'s Ex. 3, ECF No. 52-3. The General Manager's responsibilities included management of employees; complaint resolution; customer service; reporting; inventory control and management; ensure the proper healthcare, appearance, and maintenance of companion animals; cash handling; store opening/closing; store merchandising; providing for safety of customers, employees, livestock, and property; housekeeping oversight; and marketing. Id. at 4-6 of 8. The job description also warned that the position "requires bending, kneeling, moving merchandise (up to 50 pounds, as necessary) and standing for long periods of time." Id. at 7 of 8. Plaintiff acknowledged that the written job description was an accurate reflection of his job. Donlin Dep. 41:11-20, ECF No. 52-1.
In practice, approximately 95% of Plaintiff's tasks were performed in the office - a very clerical job. See Pl.'s Dep. 37:3-13, ECF No. 54-1. More specifically, the general manager duties were scheduling, reading and filling out reports, gathering numbers on the sales floor and inputting them into a computer, inventory control, shrink control, overseeing the grooming salon, scheduling for the grooming salon and employee shifts, responding to emails, reading and responding to action memos, performing reviews and evaluations of employees. See Pl.'s Dep. 32:23-33:3, 37:3-39:2,ECF No. 54-1. Donlin's General Manager functions also included completing and submitting all accounting, payroll reports, and managing all cash. Def.'s MSJ, UF ¶ 3, ECF No. 52.
The Petco store Donlin managed had approximately 20-25 total employees, and there were always at least four employees working in the store. Pl.'s Resp., UF ¶ LL, ECF No. 54. At any given time, employees were available to perform needed manual labor of unloading the truck, shelving merchandise, and assisting customers with merchandise without the need for Plaintiff to perform those tasks. Id. Although Plaintiff had willingly moved merchandise up to 50 pounds on the job, it was very rare because there were always sales associates on the floor. See Pl.'s Dep. 42:9-19, 288:14-289:9, ECF No. 54-1. Similarly, he had once climbed a ladder to get merchandise, but usually sales associates handled the stocking on the sales floor, not the general manager. See id. at...
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