Ladenheim v. American Airlines, Inc., CIV. 99-1661(HL).

• Decision Date: 28 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. CIV. 99-1661(HL).,CIV. 99-1661(HL).
• Citation: 115 F.Supp.2d 225
• Parties: Lisa Gelabert LADENHEIM, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

115 F.Supp.2d 225

Lisa Gelabert LADENHEIM, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., Defendant.

No. CIV. 99-1661(HL).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

August 28, 2000.

Melba N. Rivera-Camacho, Rivera Camacho & Associates, Carolina, Raymond L. Sanchez-Maceira, Santurce, PR, for Lisa Gelabert-Ladenheim, plaintiffs.

Angel Castillo, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Miami, Fl, Vivian Nunez-Rodriguez, Goldman Antonetti & Cordova, San Juan, PR, for American Airlines, Inc., defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

LAFFITTE, Chief Judge.

This lawsuit arises from Plaintiff Lisa Gelabert Ladenheim's ("Gelabert") dissatisfaction with Defendant American Airlines, Inc.'s ("American") efforts to accommodate her physical limitations. Gelabert brings suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, alleging that American failed to provide her a reasonable accommodation and that American retaliated against her for filing an EEOC charge. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 12101 et seq. (West 1995) ("ADA").¹ Gelabert has also invoked this Court's supplemental jurisdiction to bring a claim under P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 1, § 501 (1982) ("Law 44"). See also 28 U.S.C.A. § 1367 (West 1993).

American has filed a motion for summary judgment and a reply, Dkt. Nos. 37 and 45, and Gelabert has filed an opposition and a sur-reply, Dkt. Nos. 42 and 49. For reasons that follow, American's motion for summary judgment is granted.

Standard for Summary Judgment

The Court shall grant a motion for summary judgment "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 judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A fact is material only if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In determining if a material fact is "genuine," the Court does not weigh the facts but, instead, ascertains whether "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id.; Leary v. Dalton, 58 F.3d 748, 751 (1st Cir.1995).

Once a party moves for summary judgment, it bears the initial burden. Specifically, "a party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the [evidence] ... which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Crawford-El, 523 U.S. 574, 118 S.Ct. 1584, 1598 n. 22, 140 L.Ed.2d 759 (1998) (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)).

Once this threshold is met, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party. The nonmovant may not rest on mere conclusory allegations or wholesale denials. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(e); Libertad v. Welch, 53 F.3d 428, 435 (1st Cir.1995). Instead, the nonmoving party must "set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). These specific facts must demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact "as to each issue upon which [the nonmovant] would bear the ultimate burden of proof at trial." Santiago-Ramos v. Centennial P.R. Wireless Corp., 217 F.3d 46, 53 (1st Cir.2000) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505).

Of course, the Court draws inferences and evaluates facts "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Leary, 58 F.3d at 751 (1995). Still, even in discrimination cases, summary judgment is appropriate where the nonmoving party rests entirely upon "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation" on any essential element of the discrimination claim. Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990).

Statement of Facts

On June 2, 1986, Gelabert started working for American as a passenger services agent. On May 4, 1993, Gelabert sustained an injury to her left hand, for which she was treated by the State Insurance Fund. After her treatment, Gelabert returned to work and was assigned to a temporary light duty position as a "curbside area" employee. On March 20, 1995, when it had become clear that Gelabert's injury had resulted in her permanent impairment with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ("CTS"), American removed her from the temporary curbside position. American then told Gelabert that until it could find her a permanent light duty position, Gelabert needed to take her remaining vacation. Upon finishing her accrued vacation time, Gelabert was to be put on unpaid sick leave.

In July of 1995, Gelabert applied for a position in "Special Services," a light duty position which her CTS would allow her to perform. American did not hire Gelabert for the job. Subsequently, in February of 1996, Gelabert applied for a light duty position at American's "Platinum Desk." Once again, American hired another applicant instead of Gelabert. Finally, in May of 1996, American offered Gelabert a position in reservations. Feeling that her physical limitations prevented her from being able to perform the job's essential functions, Gelabert rejected the position. After filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), Gelabert filed this lawsuit on June 15, 1999.

Discussion

The determining issue presented in this employer-employee controversy under the ADA and pivotal to its resolution is whether American provided Gelabert with a reasonable accommodation. The Court limns the legal landscape, parses the record, and finds that Gelabert has failed to establish a claim for failure to provide a reasonable accommodation.

1. Claim for Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodation

Gelabert's first claim is that American discriminated against her in violation of the ADA by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation for her alleged disability. Before turning to the evidence, the Court shall take a moment to reemphasize the framework used to make out a claim based on failure to accommodate, as distinguished from a claim based on, for example, discriminatory discharge.

The ADA provides that "[n]o covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability ...." Criado v. IBM Corp., 145 F.3d 437, 441 (1st Cir.1998) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a)). The ADA also provides that "the term discriminate includes ... not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability ..., unless [the employer] can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of [the employer]." Higgins v. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., 194 F.3d 252, 264 (1st Cir.1999) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A)).

Unlike a claim for discriminatory discharge, Gelabert's claim for failure to accommodate is not subject to the framework first set forth by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-04, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Higgins, 194 F.3d at 264. Thus, the question of whether Gelabert has made out a prima facie case of discrimination is not at issue here, either. The McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting approach is simply "inapposite in respect to such claims." Higgins, 194 F.3d at 264. Instead,

[t]o survive a motion for summary judgment on a failure-to-accommodate claim, a plaintiff ordinarily must furnish significantly probative evidence that he is a qualified individual with a disability ...; that he works (or worked) for an employer whom the ADA covers; that the employer, despite knowing of the employee's physical or mental limitations, did not reasonably accommodate those limitations; and that the employer's failure to do so affected the terms, conditions, or privileges of the plaintiff's employment.

Higgins, 194 F.3d at 264. See also, Santiago Clemente v. Executive Airlines, Inc., 213 F.3d 25, 30 (1st Cir.2000) (quoting Higgins, 194 F.3d at 264); Garcia-Ayala v. Lederle Parenterals, Inc., 212 F.3d 638, 646 n. 9 (1st Cir.2000) (noting that the defendant's "argument that there was no intent to discriminate based on disability misses the important point that the ADA does more than prohibit disparate treatment. It also imposes an affirmative obligation to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees."). As is readily apparent from this formulation, "no proof of a particularized discriminatory animus is exigible" in a claim for failure to provide reasonable accommodation. Id. Once a plaintiff has created a genuine issue of material fact as to each of these four steps, a defendant's motion for summary judgment will be denied, unless the defendant can show that the plaintiff's proposed accommodation would create an undue hardship for the defendant's business. Id. In the instant case, neither party has raised the issue of undue hardship.² Thus, the Court focuses solely on the four-step inquiry.

Gelabert's first task is to put forward evidence sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to conclude that she is a "qualified individual with a disability." Under the ADA, a "qualified individual with a disability" is "an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires." Criado, 145 F.3d at 441 (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8)). The parties do not dispute that Gelabert is incapable of performing the essential functions of her original job as a passenger services agent. Neither do they dispute, however, that Gelabert is fully capable of performing the essential functions of the two positions for which she applied and was rejected. Thus, assuming, arguendo, that Gelabert's reassignment to either of the two positions for which she applied and was rejected constitutes a reasonable accommodation, Gelabert is a qualified individual.

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