Hoffman v. Caterpillar Inc.

• Decision Date: 03 July 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-3023,99-3023
• Citation: 256 F.3d 568
• Parties: (7th Cir. 2001) Shirley Hoffman, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Caterpillar, Inc., Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 568

256 F.3d 568 (7th Cir. 2001)

Shirley Hoffman, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Caterpillar, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 99-3023

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Argued September 6, 2000

Decided July 3, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. No. 98 C 1062--Joe B. McDade, Chief Judge.

Before Manion, Kanne, and Diane P. Wood, Circuit Judges.

Kanne, Circuit Judge.

Shirley Hoffman, who was born without a left arm below the elbow, brought suit alleging that Caterpillar, Inc. unlawfully discriminated against her by failing to provide training on two machines in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq.¹ Hoffman alleged both disparate treatment and failure to accommodate claims with respect to the first machine, the high speed scanner, while she only alleged disparate treatment with respect to the second, the main console. Caterpillar moved for summary judgment and the district court granted the motion. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm in part but vacate the district court's grant of summary judgment for Caterpillar on Hoffman's disparate treatment claim with respect to the high-speed scanner.

I. History

Hoffman began working for Caterpillar's Optical Services Department ("OSD") in April 1996. The OSD provides digital scanning services to all of Caterpillar's business units by scanning documents into the computer and indexing them for future reference. Hoffman's primary job responsibility is indexing--entering data relating to a scanned image into the computer. Her job also includes preparing papers to be scanned, maintaining the copy machine, running the flatbed scanner (a low-speed scanner), and ordering office supplies. Due to the fact that she is missing her lower left arm, Hoffman needs several accommodations to perform her job, including a typing stand, poster putty to raise the function key on her computer, and a compound called tacky finger to improve finger grip. It is also sometimes necessary for Hoffman to have the items in her work area rearranged. Although Hoffman and Caterpillar dispute the willingness with which Hoffman was initially accommodated (she claims that her repeated requests for accommodation were ignored until she was forced to bring in her own materials), it is clear that she is now able to perform the essential functions of her job. Caterpillar concedes that, with the exception of her first three weeks on the job, Hoffman's work has been average or better and that she performs her indexing job as fast or faster than a person with two hands.

Although Hoffman already performs all of the required functions of her job, she has repeatedly expressed a desire to be trained on two additional pieces of equipment. First, Hoffman wishes to operate the high-speed scanner, a production machine that scans forty to fifty pages per minute. Operation of the high-speed scanner is a key position in the OSD because the overall productivity of the department depends on the speed at which documents are scanned. OSD employees in Hoffman's position are not required to run the high-speed scanner; out of the twenty-one people in the department as of March 1999, only seven are completely trained to operate it. Caterpillar contends that Hoffman's lack of training on the high-speed scanner does not affect her compensation, benefits, work hours, job title, or ability to advance within the OSD. Hoffman disagrees with Caterpillar's claim that the denial of training does not affect her ability to advance; she argues that she will be a more attractive candidate for promotion if she is well- trained. In addition, Hoffman maintains that she should be trained, regardless of whether it affects her ability to advance, because every other employee who has expressed an interest in operating the high-speed scanner has received the necessary training to do so.

Hoffman's supervisor and the head of the OSD, Lynn Cripe, admits that he denied Hoffman training on the high-speed scanner because she only has one hand. He claims that her disability would prevent her from being able to properly run the high-speed scanner because two hands are needed to clear paper jams and to straighten documents as they exit the machine. Paper jams occur frequently on the high-speed scanner--sometimes four to five times an hour--disrupting production for anywhere from a few seconds to fifteen minutes depending on the severity of the jam. Cripe is concerned that Hoffman would be unable to run the machine, and even if she were able to operate it, that she would be unable to maintain an acceptable speed or clear the frequent paper jams without assistance. Although Cripe is not fully trained on the high-speed scanner himself, his observation of the machine leads him to believe that Hoffman, even if able to physically run the machine, would not be able to keep up with the production standards set for the department. Cripe also believes that the configuration of the high-speed scanner presents an obstacle to Hoffman's running of the machine because the keyboard which controls the scanner settings is located on the left side of the machine--the side on which Hoffman does not have a hand. According to Cripe, the settings need to be changed fairly quickly during scanning and it would be difficult for Hoffman to adjust the settings while continuing to feed the paper with only one arm. Cripe's belief that Hoffman would be unable to run the high-speed scanner was never confirmed, however, because Hoffman was never given a chance to try.

Hoffman also challenges Caterpillar's decision to deny her training on another piece of equipment, the main console. The main console is a computer that is used to check the accuracy of data entered for scanned documents. Caterpillar asserts that Hoffman was denied training on the main console, not because of her disability, but because the main console is operated by individuals in the reviewer position and Hoffman is not qualified for that position because she lacks the necessary communication skills.

II. Analysis

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment, drawing our own conclusions of law and fact from the record before us. See Amadio v. Ford Motor Co., 238 F.3d 919, 924 (7th Cir. 2001). Summary judgment is proper when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S. Ct. 2548, 91 L. Ed. 2d 265 (1986). In determining whether there exists any genuine issue of material fact, we must construe all facts in the light most favorable to the non- moving party and draw all reasonable and justifiable inferences in favor of that party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202 (1986).

B. Denial of Training on the High-Speed Scanner

Hoffman claims that Caterpillar's denial of training on the high-speed scanner violated the ADA. The ADA proscribes discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability "because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms conditions, and privileges of employment." 42 U.S.C. sec. 12112(a). As a threshold requirement, Hoffman must first establish that she has a disability as defined by the ADA. Disability is defined as "(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment." 42 U.S.C. sec. 12102(2). A plaintiff must also demonstrate that she is qualified for the position in question. An individual is qualified if she "satisfies the pre-requisites for the position" and "can perform the essential functions of the position held or desired, with or without reasonable accommodation." Bombard v. Fort Wayne Newspapers, Inc., 92 F.3d 560, 563 (7th Cir. 1996) (quoting 29 C.F.R. app. sec. 1630.2(m)).

Once a plaintiff has established that she is a qualified individual with a disability, she may show discrimination in either of two ways: by presenting evidence of disparate treatment or by showing a failure to accommodate. See Sieberns v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 125 F.3d 1019, 1021-22 (7th Cir. 1997). Disparate treatment claims arise from language in the ADA prohibiting covered entities from "limiting, segregating, or classifying a job applicant or employee in a way that adversely affects the opportunities or status of such applicant or employee," 42 U.S.C. sec. 12112(b)(1), while failure to accommodate claims stem from language in the ADA defining discrimination in part as "not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual." 42 U.S.C. sec. 12112(b)(5)(A).

A disparate treatment claim under the ADA is similar to disparate treatment claims under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e-2(a), and the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. sec. 623(a)(1) in that the plaintiff attempts to show that she was treated differently than other workers on the basis of a protected characteristic. As with other federal anti-discrimination statutes, an ADA plaintiff may prove disparate treatment either by presenting direct evidence of discrimination, or she may prove it indirectly using the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting method. See McDonnell Douglas v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973). In order to prevail in the absence of direct evidence, a plaintiff must first make out a prima facie case by showing that: (1) she is disabled within the meaning of the...