Kampouris v. Symphony

• Citation: 210 F.3d 845
• Decision Date: 13 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-2704,99-2704
• Parties: (8th Cir. 2000) Louis Kampouris, Appellant, v. The St. Louis Symphony Society, Appellee. Submitted:
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

Page 845

210 F.3d 845 (8th Cir. 2000)

Louis Kampouris, Appellant, v. The St. Louis Symphony Society, Appellee.

No. 99-2704

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: March 13, 2000

Filed: April 28, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD and FAGG, Circuit Judges, and BENNETT, ^* District Judge.

PER CURIAM.

Louis Kampouris appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment to Kampouris's employer, The St. Louis Symphony Society, in his employment-related action asserting disability and age discrimination claims. In granting the symphony orchestra summary judgment, the district court concluded Kampouris failed to establish the symphony orchestra perceived him to be disabled, failed to establish he was capable of performing the job without accommodation, and failed to show the adverse action was discriminatory. The district court also concluded the symphony orchestra's decision was based on a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason and was not age-based. Having considered the record, the parties' submissions, and the district court's thorough order, we believe the district court's judgment was correct. Because the parties' submissions show they are thoroughly familiar with the issues before the court and the controlling law that informs our review, we also believe an extended discussion would serve no useful precedential purpose in a fact-intensive case that is unique to these parties. We thus affirm on the basis of the district court's ruling without a comprehensive opinion. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

*. The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, Chief Judge, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa, sitting by designation.

BENNETT, Chief District Judge, dissenting.

I whole-heartedly agree with the majority that the decision of the district court in this case is thorough, and, I would add, well-written. Indeed, that decision undoubtedly states the conclusion I would have reached on the record presented, had I been the trier of fact. However, this case was not before the district court as the trier of fact. Rather, it was before the district court on a motion for summary judgment. Contrary to the conclusions of the district court and the majority, I believe that the summary judgment record amply presented genuine issues of material fact. These factual disputes are for the jury, not the court, to decide, however convinced the district judge, the majority, and indeed, I myself, may be as to the correct outcome of the case. Because summary judgment was improvidently granted, and thus Mr. Kampouris was deprived of his right to trial by jury, I respectfully dissent.

Summary judgment is appropriate only "if 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). Therefore, we must not lose sight of the proper function of the courts, both appellate and trial, when presented with a motion for summary judgment: Our function is not to weigh the evidence in the summary judgment record, decide credibility questions, or determine the truth of any factual issue; instead, we perform only a gatekeeper function of determining whether there is evidence in the summary judgment record generating a genuine issue of material fact for trial on each essential element of a claim. See, e.g., Bell v. Conopco, Inc., 186 F.3d 1099, 1101 (8th Cir. 1999); Do v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 162 F.3d 1010, 1012 (8th Cir. 1998); Peter v. Wedl, 155 F.3d 992, 996 (8th Cir. 1998); Bryan v. Norfolk & Western Ry. Co., 154 F.3d 899, 902 (8th Cir. 1998), cert. dismissed, 525 U.S. 1119 (1999); Quick v. Donaldson, Co., 90 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (8th Cir. 1996).This has been our function at the summary judgment stage of the proceedings at least since the triumvirate of cases on summary judgment standards handed down by the Supreme Court in 1986. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249-51 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 474, 486-87 (1986).

Moreover, this court has repeatedly stated that, "[b]ecause employment discrimination cases frequently turn on inferences rather than direct evidence, the court must be particularly deferential to the party opposing summary judgment." Bell, 186 F.3d at 1101; accord Snow v. Ridgeview Med. Ctr., 128 F.3d 1201, 1205 (8th Cir. 1997); Webb v. Garelick Mfg. Co., 94 F.3d 484, 486 (8th Cir. 1996); Crawford v. Runyon, 37 F.3d 1338, 1341 (8th Cir. 1994). The deference due the opposing party in such cases has been expressed in strongly cautionary terms: "'This court has repeatedly cautioned that summary judgment should seldom be granted in the context of employment actions, as such actions are inherently fact based.'" Keathley v. Ameritech Corp., 187 F.3d 915, 919 (8th Cir. 1999) (quoting Hindman v. Transkrit Corp., 145 F.3d 986, 990 (8th Cir. 1998) (citing cases)); Lynn v. Deaconess Med. Center-West Campus, 160 F.3d 484, 487 (8th Cir. 1998). Reinforcing the point, this court has said that summary judgment should not be granted in employment discrimination cases "unless the evidence could not support any reasonable inference" for the nonmovant. Keathley, 187 F.3d at 919; Breeding v. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., 164 F.3d 1151, 1156 (8th Cir. 1999); Lynn, 160 F.3d at 486-87.

I believe that these principles will be undermined by affirming the decision below, because I find that there are genuine issues of material fact in the record. These factual disputes affect not only Mr. Kampouris's prima facie case, but the issue of whether the St. Louis Symphony Society's purportedly legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for refusing to renew Mr. Kampouris's contract was pretextual. See, e.g., Floyd v. Missouri Dep't of Social Servs., 188 F.3d 932, 936-37 (8th Cir. 1999) (describing the burden-shifting analysis for a disability discrimination case under the ADA as consisting of the plaintiff's burden to establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination, the defendant's burden to articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action, and the plaintiff's renewed burden to show that the proffered reason is a pretext for discrimination).

As to his prima facie case of perceived disability discrimination under the ADA, Mr. Kampouris must show that the St. Louis Symphony Society regarded him as having an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Roberts v. Unidynamics Corp., 126 F.3d 1088, 1092 (8th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1106 (1998). An individual is regarded as having a substantially limiting impairment when others treat that individual as having such an impairment. Id. Additionally, Mr. Kampouris must show that he was able to perform the essential functions of his job, and that he suffered adverse employment action because of his perceived disability. See Treanor v. MCI Telecommunications Corp., 200 F.3d 570, 574 (8th Cir. 2000) (actual disability case defining the "qualification" element in terms of ability to perform the essential functions of the claimant's job, either with or without reasonable accommodation); and compare Weber v. Strippit, Inc., 186 F.3d 907, 916-17 (8th Cir. 1999) (finding that a perceived disability claimant is not entitled to reasonable accommodation, but not otherwise altering the elements of the prima facie case for a perceived disability claim), cert. denied, U.S. , 120 S. Ct. 794 (2000).

My conclusion that genuine issues of material fact are generated on this record concerning the first element of Mr. Kampouris's prima facie case-the defendant's perception of Mr. Kampouris as disabled, see Roberts, 126 F.3d at 1092-centers on the deposition testimony of Mr. Neville, the Symphony's Director of Orchestra Personnel. Mr. Neville initially testified that it was his belief that Mr. Kampouris was disabled from any occupation, then later corrected his testimony to indicate that he merely understood that the disability insurer had so designated Mr. Kampouris. See Deposition of Mr. Neville, p. 84, ll. 20-25 (App. at p. 84)) & p. 102, ll. 5-10 (App. at p. 90); and compare Deposition Correction Sheet, Deposition of Mr. Neville, App. at 183. Although Mr. Neville's corrections to his deposition testimony are permitted by Rule 30(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, I find that his corrections themselves raise genuine issues of material fact as to Mr. Neville's perception of Mr. Kampouris's impairments. That is, they raise genuine issues of material fact as to whether Mr. Neville actually perceived Mr. Kampouris to be disabled, only believed that the insurer had so designated Mr. Kampouris, or perceived Mr. Kampouris to be disabled because the insurer had so designated him. Not only do the original and corrected versions of the deposition testimony, taken together, give rise to all three of these inferences, but I believe that each version separately generates the same possible inferences. I think, therefore, that it is for the jury to decide whether Mr. Neville's reasons for making corrections were reasonable and which testimony accurately reflects his actual perception of Mr. Kampouris's impairments. See, e.g., Thorn v. Sundstrand Aerospace Corp., 207 F.3d, 383, 389 (7th Cir. 2000) (recognizing that FED. R. CIV. P. 30(e) permits alteration of deposition testimony, but finding that the alterations in that case raised a question for the jury as to the accuracy and reasonableness of the changes, and stating that a...