Howell v. Michelin Tire Corp.

• Decision Date: 02 August 1994
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 93-T-1309-S.
• Citation: 860 F. Supp. 1488
• Parties: Darron S. HOWELL, Plaintiff, v. MICHELIN TIRE CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

860 F. Supp. 1488

Darron S. HOWELL, Plaintiff, v. MICHELIN TIRE CORPORATION, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 93-T-1309-S.

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

August 2, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Candis A. McGowan, Patrick F. Clark, and Patricia Guthrie Fraley, Cooper, Mitch, Crawford, Kuykendall & Whatley, Birmingham, AL, for plaintiff.

Henry Clay Barnett, Jr., Capell, Howard, Knabe & Cobbs, P.A., Montgomery, AL, Paul B. Lindemann, Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupmann, Greenville, SC, and Stephen X. Munger, Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman, Atlanta, GA, for defendant.

ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Darron S. Howell brings this action claiming that he was discriminated against because of a congenital hip disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 12101-12213, commonly referred to as the "ADA." He alleges that, by refusing to reassign him to permanent light duty at its facility in Dothan, Alabama, defendant Michelin Tire Corporation failed to "reasonably accommodate" his condition. Howell seeks compensatory and punitive damages and has demanded a jury trial on whether he is entitled to these damages. This lawsuit is now before the court on Michelin's motion for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the motion will be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Howell was employed at Michelin's Dothan tire manufacturing facility from 1988 to 1993. His job required that he run a machine called an "FE complexor," which joins strips of rubber together to form the sidewalls of a tire. In September 1992, Howell informed Michelin that he suffered from a congenital deformation of the hip area, known as hip dysplasia.¹ For a few weeks, Howell was temporarily reassigned to a light-duty job in the factory's decomplexing area. Decomplexing is a reverse operation in which scrap is re-separated into individual components for purposes of salvage and reclamation.

In October 1992, Howell returned to his regular job as a complexor operator. However, after a little over a week, Howell injured his hip while bending over to pick up an assembly part. Again, Howell was unable to continue his complexor work and had to take another temporary assignment to light duty in the decomplexing area.² Howell remained in the decomplexing area for 13 weeks, the maximum period Michelin says that it allots for temporary light-duty rotation. Because Howell was still unable to return to his regular work at the end of this period and because, according to Michelin, there were no permanent light-duty jobs available, Howell was forced to go on short-term disability.

While on disability, Howell elected to have surgery to improve his hip condition.³ There were complications with the operation, and Howell was completely impaired for three months. Furthermore, while making a visit to the Michelin factory in July 1993, Howell slipped down a flight of stairs and re-injured his back and hip. As a result of these misfortunes, Howell maintains that he is currently unable to do any manual work at either the complexor or the decomplexor position.

Howell then filed this lawsuit under the ADA, contending that Michelin failed to reasonably accommodate his disability when it would not reassign him to a permanent light-duty position. Michelin contends that it is entitled to summary judgment on the ground that Howell has not created a genuine dispute of material fact.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Once the party seeking summary judgment has identified the basis for its motion, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to demonstrate why summary judgment would be inappropriate. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1115-17 (11th Cir.1993) (discussing how the responsibilities on the movant and the nonmovant vary depending on whether the legal issues, as to which the facts in question pertain, are ones on which the movant or nonmovant bears the burden of proof at trial). In considering a summary judgment motion, the underlying facts and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

B. Reasonable Accommodation

Under the ADA, private employers may not discriminate against an otherwise qualified worker because of a disability. 42 U.S.C.A. § 12112.⁴ Employers must make "reasonable accommodation," § 12112(b)(5)(A),⁵ unless the employer can show that the accommodation would impose an "undue hardship." § 12111(10)(A).⁶ A reasonable accommodation would be one 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. Part 1630, App. § 1630.2(o).⁷

Michelin contends that, throughout Howell's difficulties, it provided reasonable accommodation to him. The company points out that, on two separate occasions, Howell was reassigned to light-duty work on a temporary basis; that, while on light-duty work, he was not forced to stand and he was not held to the usual production standards; and that several vacant positions were reviewed in an attempt to find Howell a permanent light-duty assignment.

Michelin concedes that it rejected Howell's suggestion in early 1993 that his temporary light-duty job be converted into a permanent assignment. The company contends, however, that it had no obligation to "create" a new light-duty job. Michelin relies on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Technical Assistance Manual on the ADA. According to § 9.4 of the manual,

"The ADA does not require an employer to create a `light duty' position unless the `heavy duty' tasks an injured worker can no longer perform are marginal job functions which may be reallocated to co-workers as part of the reasonable accommodation of job restructuring. In most cases, however, `light duty' positions involve a totally different job from the job that a worker performed before the injury. Creating such positions by job restructuring is not required by the ADA.... If the position was created as a temporary job, a reassignment to that position need only be for a temporary period."

Howell responds that Michelin has selectively quoted from the manual. Although the manual states that an employer need not create a light-duty position, it also provides that, "if an employer already has a vacant light duty position for which an injured worker is qualified, it might be a reasonable accommodation to reassign the worker to that position." Similarly the ADA and regulations promulgated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provide for reassignment of workers to existing vacant positions. 42 U.S.C.A. § 12111(9)(B) states that, "The term `reasonable accommodation' may include ... reassignment to a vacant position".⁸ 29 C.F.R. Part 1630, App. § 1630.2(o) states that, "Reassignment to a vacant position is ... a potential reasonable accommodation."

A reasonable accommodation, therefore, is one that would enable an employee with a disability to enjoy an equal opportunity for benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by employees without disabilities. It includes reassignment to a vacant position. Reasonable accommodation, however, does not require that an employer create a light-duty position or a new permanent position. But, if an employer has a vacant light-duty position or a vacant permanent position for which the disabled employee is qualified, it would be a reasonable accommodation to reassign the employee to that position. If the position was created as temporary job, the reassignment to that position need only be for the temporary period of the job. Therefore, if a light-duty job is a temporary job, reassignment to that job need only be for the temporary period of the job, and an employer need not convert a temporary job into a permanent one. However, if a light-duty job is a permanent job, the assignment to the job must be for the entire time the job exists. Obviously, the employer is not required to reassign a disabled person to a vacant position unless the disabled person is qualified for the position. A disabled person is qualified for a vacant position if he can perform the "essential functions" of the position, with or without a reasonable accommodation, such as a restructuring, with regard to the position. 42 U.S.C.A. § 12111(8) & (9).

Howell contends that, despite Michelin's apparent limit of 13 weeks for temporary light-duty assignments, the company has accommodated other employees by reassigning them to light-duty tasks for much longer periods. He names at least two employees, Adam Phyall and Marvin Peters, who were still assigned to what amounted to light duty after their 13-week "temporary" period ended. Both these employees, Howell maintains, were allowed to do only light-duty work for periods exceeding 13 weeks, in one case eleven months and in the other two years. Howell also disputes Michelin's contention that there were no vacancies in its light-duty force. According to Howell, a position in the decomplexing area was available in late 1992, but was filled by Nancy Lambeth, a worker who had not even requested a decomplexing assignment. Howell suggests that his new experience in decomplexing left him well-equipped to fill this position and that his condition would have required only the minimal adjustment of allowing him to perform his duties while sitting down.

In rebuttal, Michelin claims that Howell has mischaracterized the nature of Phyall's and Peters's reassignments. Michelin's...