Hilburn v. Murata Electronics N.A.

• Decision Date: 20 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-9313,98-9313
• Citation: 181 F.3d 1220
• Parties: (11th Cir. 1999) LINDA HILBURN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MURATA ELECTRONICS NORTH AMERICA, INC. Murata Erie North America, Inc., Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1220

181 F.3d 1220 (11th Cir. 1999)

LINDA HILBURN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MURATA ELECTRONICS NORTH AMERICA, INC. Murata Erie North America, Inc. Defendant-Appellee.

No. 98-9313

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

July 20, 1999

D. C. Docket No. 1:96-CV-3147-ODE

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before ANDERSON, Chief Judge, RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and COOK^*, Senior District Judge.

COOK, Senior District Judge:

The Appellant, Linda Hilburn, appeals from the granting of a summary judgment in favor of the Appellee, Murata Electronics North America, Inc. (Murata), on her claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213. Hilburn v. Murata Elecs. N. Am., 17 F. Supp. 2d 1377 (N.D. Ga. 1998). Hilburn alleges that Murata (1) failed to promote or transfer her, (2) wrongfully terminated her employment, and (3) declined to rehire her because of her disability or the disabilities of her family. The trial court found that Hilburn had not created a genuine issue of a material fact concerning whether she, her son, or husband were disabled within the meaning of the ADA. It also concluded that Hilburn was not qualified for the positions that she sought to obtain due to a record of extensive absences from work that had been occasioned by her own health problems and those of her family. For the reasons that have been set forth below, we affirm.

I.

Hilburn began working at Murata on February 8, 1976 as a machine operator at the Company plant in Rockmart, Georgia. Several years later she was reclassified as a material control coordinator. By all accounts, she was considered to be a good employee who received favorable performance appraisals despite a continuing concern by the Company over her extensive absenteeism record.

The difficulties that Hilburn experienced in attending work on a regular basis began when her son was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor on June 2, 1988.¹ At a later time during the same year, her husband was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. Soon thereafter, he became a diabetic as a result of the partial removal of his pancreas, which permanently prevented him from performing many major life activities. In the fall of the following year, Hilburn suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with coronary heart disease, which allegedly caused her to have a decreased tolerance for lifting, running, and performing essential manual tasks.

As a result of Hilburn's efforts to attend to her own health problems, as well as those of her family, she was absent from work for approximately one hundred days between June 1988 and February 1989, thirty-eight days during the months of October, November, and December in 1989, fourteen days in 1990, thirteen days in 1991, and fifteen days in 1992. With recognition of Hilburn's personal problems, Murata never denied any of her requests to be absent from work.² The Company also granted discretionary leaves of absence to her despite having an attendance policy that placed a limitation on the number of paid sick days and the option for discretionary leaves of absence. These policies also allowed Murata to (1) initiate discipline for any reason, including illness-related absences, against those employees who had more than five absences during any six-month period, and (2) consider an employee's attendance record when reviewing job performance and transfer or promotion decisions.

On January 4, 1993, Hilburn, reacting to a rumor of a possible reduction among the staff at the Company, applied for a position as a material control expediter at Murata's corporate headquarters in Smyma, Georgia, believing that the job responsibilities were essentially the same as her then-current position. One of her supervisors, Fred Smith, agreed. He also recommended Hilburn for the position, citing her experience and performance within the material control department, as well as her knowledge of the computer system, as bases for his opinion. Although Smith noted some "concern" about her attendance record because the "[i]llness and sickness to herself and family members have caused her to be out from her job,"³ it was his view that these personal problems would not inhibit her ability to perform the work assignments.

However, Taku Katayama, the head of the department in which the material control expediter position was located, did not completely agree with Smith. He believed that differences in the two jobs did exist because the material control expediter position required more forecasting and aggressiveness in meeting the needs of customers than that of a material control coordinator. Moreover, he denied having received Smith's recommendation, but acknowledged that Bob Entrekin, Murata's Vice-President for Human Resources, had told him of Hilburn's "attendance problem."

During his deposition, Katayama asserted that he had selected Michelle Haase for the material control expediter position because of his belief that (1) regular attendance was an important requirement for this job, and (2) Haase was the best qualified candidate, having obtained a college degree⁴ and proved her aptitude while working in the same position as a temporary employee under his supervision. He also acknowledged that Hilburn's seventeen years of experience with the Company would have been an important consideration for him in his evaluation of the candidates for the material control expediter position. However, he indicated that Hilburn had not been given an interview because of her attendance record.

On March 11, 1993, Hilburn applied for an open customer service position at the Smyrna facility. Although this position was significantly different from her responsibilities as a material control coordinator Smith supported her candidacy with a recommendation that included his concern about her attendance record. Hilburn was not selected for this position. Rather, another individual was selected because, in the judgment of Murata, the successful candidate possessed a college degree, as well as experience in customer service.

On March 26, 1993, Hilburn was given a layoff notice, which Murata insists was an integral part of an ongoing downsizing effort that began in 1992. Smith claims to have eliminated Hilburn's position because of his belief that her duties could be easily divided into three distinct functions, a division which could not be readily accomplished with the other employees within his department.⁵ Between 1992 and 1993, the reduction in the work force at Murata resulted in the layoffs of half of the fifty-two non-production employees at Rockmart. Although Murata found jobs for virtually all of these non-production employees who had been laid off,⁶ there is no evidence that the Company attempted to transfer Hilburn into another position after her layoff.

Less than two months after her layoff, Hilburn accepted a temporary position at Murata as a literary fulfillment clerk, a job that she retained until July 1993. While there, she submitted another application for an opening as a material control expediter. Her supervisor at the time, Mary Akin, recommended Hilburn for the position, stating that (1) she had all the necessary qualifications, and (2) her need for additional training was "practically nil."⁷ However, Katayama selected another temporary employee, Katie Connell, under circumstances that were substantially identical to those that had previously led him to select Haase over Hilburn.

Unaware of Murata's decision to hire Connell, Hilburn telephoned Pam Quarles in the Human Resources Department to inquire about the status of her application. According to Hilburn, she was told by Quarles (1) "Sorry, Linda, but you know you have a sick family; you're potentially an attendance problem," and (2) that an interview was not extended to her because of Smith's reference to her attendance problems in his recommendation forms.⁸ After further unsuccessful attempts to contact Quarles, Hilburn spoke with Entrekin by telephone and taped the conversation, during which she was advised that her attendance was a factor in her failed promotion and transfer attempts at Murata. Later, Entrekin wrote a "Memo to File" on July 7, 1993,in which he represented that Hilburn had been informed by him that "there was no one eliminating factor in her past record" that caused Katayama to reject her application, but rather that her application had been rejected because of "a comparison of overall qualifications."⁹

On August 30, 1993, Hilburn filed a discrimination charge against the Company with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) based on her sex, disability, or association with family members who had disabilities. Aware of this discrimination charge, Murata contacted Hilburn about a permanent job opening for a "stock boy" position in the Company's warehouse in Rockmart, Georgia. Hilburn declined to accept the position, asserting that she would be unable to perform the work assignments because of her disability. However, Murata maintains that Hilburn, despite having been offered an interview for the Rockmart warehouse position, declined the invitation because of a belief that her temporary position as a medical secretary would become permanent.

On January 10, 1994, Hilburn was contacted once again by Murata about an interview for an open position in the Company's production control department. This offer was rejected by Hilburn, who had secured full-time employment at the Floyd County Medical Center.¹⁰ On the following day, Murata forwarded a letter to Hilburn, in which she was officially notified of her termination of employment from the Company.¹¹

On August 30, 1996, the EEOC issued a Right to Sue letter to Hilburn. On November 27, 1996, this litigation against Murata was initiated.¹²

II.

This tribunal reviews a decision by a trial court to grant a summary judgment...