Land v. Washington County, MN, s. 99-3203

• Decision Date: 20 October 2000
• Docket Number: Nos. 99-3203,s. 99-3203
• Parties: (8th Cir. 2001) LARRY LAND, APPELLANT, v. WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA, APPELLEE. /00-1211 Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1093

243 F.3d 1093 (8th Cir. 2001)

LARRY LAND, APPELLANT, v. WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA, APPELLEE.

Nos. 99-3203/00-1211

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: October 20, 2000

Filed: March 16, 2001

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Before Wollman, Chief Judge, Beam, and Morris Sheppard Arnold, Circuit Judges.

Beam, Circuit Judge.

Larry Land, a corrections officer, appeals the dismissals of two employment discrimination actions. We affirm.¹

I. BACKGROUND

Land was hired as a corrections officer for Washington County, Minnesota in March 1984. Later that year he was involved in a collision and suffered a head injury. He has been diagnosed as having organic brain syndrome and organic personality disorder. He experiences depression, confusion, uncontrolled emotions, stress, irritability, dementia, amnesia, chronic sleep disorder, chronic fatigue, stumbling, trembling, ataxia, aphasia, focal and audio interference, post-toxic exposure symptoms, and multi-chemical sensitivity syndrome. In 1990, Land filed an OSHA complaint for exposure to toxic fumes during the repainting of the jail.

In July 1994, Land submitted a written request for accommodations. He noted that his disability involved "difficulty with retention and retrieval" and requested accommodations including written assistance and extra training. He also asked for advance notice of any pesticide painting or spraying. The accommodation request was granted, although Land asserts that the directives were not followed on several occasions.

In addition to his duties as a correctional officer, Land at times functioned as an unpaid field training officer for the sheriff's office from 1990 until 1994. In 1993, the jail, which previously had nine employees, moved to a new and larger jail with sixty employees. Land was not asked to assume field training officer duties in the new facility after September 1994. He was passed over for promotion to sergeant in 1992 and 1994. The record shows that Land fared poorly on the tests for promotion to sergeant and that only those with higher scores than his were promoted.

In 1997, Land filed his first action in district court alleging discrimination based on his age, gender, political views, and disability. He alleged unlawful harassment, failure to promote, denial of overtime, failure to accommodate, and denial of extra pay. On the County's motion for summary judgment, the district court dismissed the age, gender, and political view claims as unsupported by any evidence.² The district court dismissed Land's claim for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111-12117 (ADA), finding that Land had not shown that the County's asserted reasons for its action were a pretext for discrimination on the basis of disability.

The day after the first action was dismissed, Land filed a second action, pro se. He reasserted his earlier claims and added a claim that the County had wrongfully terminated him on September 29, 1998, because of his disability. The County moved to dismiss, arguing collateral estoppel and res judicata. The district court converted the County's motion to a motion for summary judgment and gave the parties time in which to submit additional materials. The district court dismissed the action, finding that Land's claims were barred by res judicata.

Land appeals both dismissals.³

II. DISCUSSION

We review decisions to grant summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as did the district court. Wooten v. Farmland Foods, 58 F.3d 382, 385 (8th Cir. 1995). We will affirm only when no genuine issue of material fact remains and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). We view all evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and are mindful that, "[b]ecause discrimination cases often depend on inferences rather than on direct evidence, summary judgment should not be granted unless the evidence could not support any reasonable inference for the non-movant." Crawford v. Runyon, 37 F.3d 1338, 1341 (8th Cir. 1994). However, summary judgment is proper if the plaintiff fails to establish any element of his or her prima facie case. Wilking v. County of Ramsey, 153 F.3d 869, 873 (8th Cir. 1998).

The ADA bars employers from discriminating 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. § 12112(a). The ADA also defines discrimination to include "not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability." Id. § 12112(b)(5)(A).

To survive a motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff in an employment discrimination case must initially present a prima facie case. Kiel v. Select Artificials, Inc., 169 F.3d 1131, 1134-35 (8th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 818 (1999). To establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA, an employee must show that he or she: (1) is disabled within the meaning of the ADA; (2) is qualified (with or without reasonable accommodation) to perform the essential functions of the job at issue; and (3) has suffered adverse employment action under circumstances giving rise to an inference of unlawful discrimination. Id. at 1135. The determination of qualification involves a two-fold inquiry: (1) whether the individual meets the necessary prerequisites for the job, such as education, experience, training, and the like; and (2) whether the individual can perform the essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation. Cravens v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, 214 F.3d 1011, 1016 (8th Cir. 2000).

The district court assumed that Land had established a prima facie case, but found that he had not shown that the actions of the County were pretextual. We may affirm the judgment on any grounds supported by the record, even if not relied upon by the district court. Monterey Dev. Corp. v. Lawyer's Title Ins. Corp., 4 F.3d 605, 608 (8th Cir. 1993). Thus, we first consider whether Land established a prima facie case. Spades v. City of Walnut Ridge, 186 F.3d 897, 899 (8th Cir. 1999).

There is no dispute that Land has a disability as that term is defined by the ADA. However, Land has not shown that he was qualified for a position as sergeant, or qualified for field training officer assignments in the larger jail facility. Land must show that, with or without reasonable accommodation, his "work performance met the employer's legitimate job expectations." Mole v. Buckhorn Rubber Prods., Inc., 165 F.3d 1212, 1217 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 821 (1999). An ADA plaintiff may not rely on past performance to establish that he is a...