Lockhart v. Sys. Made Simple, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 December 2014
• Docket Number: No. A–13–CV–326 ML.,A–13–CV–326 ML.
• Parties: Aaron LOCKHART, Plaintiff, v. SYSTEMS MADE SIMPLE, INC. and TEKsystems, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas

66 F.Supp.3d 847

Aaron LOCKHART, Plaintiff

v.SYSTEMS MADE SIMPLE, INC. and TEKsystems, Inc., Defendants.

No. A–13–CV–326 ML.

United States District Court, W.D. Texas, Austin Division.

Signed Dec. 15, 2014.

Kell Ascher Simon, The Law Offices of Kell A. Simon, Austin, TX, for Plaintiff.

Connie Cornell, Elizabeth S. Chestney, Hannah Robertson Miller, Desiree Brutocao, Cornell Smith Mierl and Brutocao LLP, Austin, TX, John L. Valentino, Lawrence M. Ordway, Bousquet Holstein PLLC, Syracuse, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARK LANE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the Court are Defendant Systems Made Simple, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment, filed July 11, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. No. 40); Defendant TEKsystems, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment and Appendix, filed July 11, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. Nos. 41, 42); Plaintiff Aaron Lockhart's Response in Opposition to Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment, filed July 25, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. No. 43); Defendant TEKsystems, Inc.'s Reply in Support of its Motions for Summary Judgment, filed August 8, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. No. 47); and Defendant Systems Made Simple, Inc.'s Reply in Support of its Motion for Summary Judgment, filed August 15, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. No. 48).

The parties consented to proceed before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge, and the case was transferred by order dated November 12, 2014 (Clerk's Dkt. No. 55). After reviewing the parties' pleadings, relevant case law, as well as the entire case file, the undersigned issues the following opinion and order.

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT FACTS

Plaintiff Aaron Lockhart (“Lockhart”) was formerly employed by TEKsystems, Inc. (“TEKsystems”), a staffing agency, and Systems Made Simple, Inc. (“SMS”), an information technology systems provider (jointly, “Defendants”). Lockhart entered into a one-year standard hourly employment contract with TEKsystems on September 15, 2011 and was assigned to provide services to SMS through a staffing agreement between SMS and TEKsystems. (SMS. Mot. for Summ. Jt. (“SMS.Mot.”) Ex. 1 (“Lockhart Depo.”) at 46, 96 & Ex. 4). Lockhart began rendering services pursuant to his contract on September 26, 2011.¹ (Id. Ex. 4).

SMS, in turn, assigned Lockhart to work as an Integration Manager—Linux (“Linux Position”) on a project (“VA Project”) for the U.S. Veterans Administration (“VA”). The Linux Position had been advertised as a completely remote, work-from-home position. (Lockhart Depo. at 53–54). Justin Bibb (“Bibb”), a recruiter for TEKsystems, confirmed to Lockhart that the position was offsite. (Id. ). However, during a teleconference on November 10, 2011, Lockhart discovered the position would require him to be onsite. (Id. at 55–56). After the teleconference, Lockhart contacted Randy Cox (“Cox”), a TEKsystems employee and Lockhart's direct supervisor, and told Cox he understood the position was to be remote. (Id. at 7–8; SMS Mot. Ex. 2 (“Cox Depo.”) at 13–14). Cox confirmed that the position was mistakenly advertised as remote. (Cox. Depo. at 14).

Cox told Lockhart he would take a “two-pronged approach” to the issue—first, he would look for available offsite positions with SMS, and second, he asked Lockhart if Lockhart would be willing to work onsite for a three-week training period and work remotely thereafter. (Lockhart Depo. at 60). Later that day, Lockhart again called Cox and told Cox he has an anxiety disorder that prevents him from working in an office environment.² (Cox Depo. at 17). Cox asked if Lockhart could still come in for the three-week training period and Lockhart indicated that he would be willing to try.³ (Lockhart Depo. at 60).

Cox then called Patricia Winnop (“Winnop”), the liaison between SMS and the VA, and told her about the mistaken advertisement. (Cox Depo. at 42). On November 15, 2011, Winnop emailed Cox and David Buckley (“Buckley”), SMS's onsite manager for the VA Project, regarding the mixup. (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 8). She stated that she spoke with the “Chief of Unix,”⁴ a supervisor on the VA Project, “and [the VA] will be flexible to help Aaron to work remotely. But first, need him to come in and get on site hands on experience.” (Id. ). Cox forwarded Winnop's email to Lockhart, and Lockhart thanked Cox for his “willingness to work with me on this.” (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 8).

On November 17, 2011, the date Lockhart was to start the VA Project, Lockhart did not appear for work. (Lockhart Depo. at 81; Cox Depo. at 23 & Ex. 10). According to Lockhart, he had a panic attack triggered by trepidation because no one informed him why he had to report onsite, or what to expect when he reported onsite, despite his requests for that information. (Lockhart Depo. at 61, 64). That morning, Lockhart called Buckley. (Lockhart Depo. at 64). Lockhart informed Buckley that he had a panic attack, which prevented him from reporting onsite and explained he has an anxiety disorder which precipitated the panic attack. (Id. ). Buckley told Lockhart that he understood and to “[d]o what you have to do.” (Id. ). Buckley advised Lockhart to contact Cox to inform him about the situation. (Id. ).

Lockhart emailed Cox the same day at 8:46 a.m. (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 9). In the email, Lockhart explained that he was unable to perform his work onsite due to his anxiety disorder, and insisted he work remotely, per his contract with TEKsystems.⁵ (Id. ). At 10:40 a.m., Cox emailed Bill Sackewitz (“Sackewitz”), his supervisor at SMS, to explain the events. (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 10 at 2). Cox disclosed in the email that Lockhart “suffers from some kind of social anxiety disorder

that makes working in an office environment very difficult for him. [Lockhart] said he didn't raise this during the interview/hiring process because the position was presented as working 100% remotely which works well for him.” (Id. ). Cox explained Lockhart agreed to report onsite for a three-week training period and work remotely thereafter, but Lockhart failed to appear on his first day. (Id. ).

Cox proposed, “I think we need to remove [Lockhart] from my contract and get TEK[systems] looking for a replacement immediately. We then need to discuss if we want to see if [Lockhart] could work remotely on another contract or how we want to handle this.” (Id. ).

That day, Cox also informed Winnop via phone call that Lockhart has an anxiety disorder which resulted in his absence from work. (Cox Depo. at 43). That afternoon at 1:41 p.m., Winnop emailed Cox and informed him the Chief of Unix would be willing to allow Lockhart work remotely and forego the three-week training period, as long as Lockhart “can communicate well via phone, IM, email and is capable to do the job.” (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 11 at 1). She also wrote, “working 100% telecommute changes some of the access/set-up requirements which will cause a bit of a delay for our readiness.” (Id. ). Winnop stated she would keep Cox posted on the progress of setting up for Lockhart's arrangement and projected that Lockhart could start sometime in the next few weeks. (Id. ).

At 2:11 p.m. the same day, Sackewitz sent an email to Cox that stated Sackewitz had spoken with Roger Sigley (“Sigley”), Sackewitz's supervisor at SMS. (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 10). In the email, Sackewitz stated, “I just spoke with [Sigley] and relayed this info to him. We agree with your recommendation and Roger has just told TEK[systems] to find us a new resource.” (Id. ). At 4:21 p.m. that day, Sigley sent an email to Cox and Sackewitz, among others, that stated he instructed Ryan Elliot, apparently a TEKsystems employee, “to release [Lockhart] immediately, he refused to go on-site which was the requirement.” (Pltf. Resp. Ex. 1 at 1). Sigley said he understood that Lockhart “was offered three weeks [onsite] as a compromise and was to be onsite today [sic] he wasn't there and essentially said due to anxiety issues he would not be doing that and his contract with TEK[systems] stated 100% off-site. Therefore we cannot use him [sic] so that discussion is over.” (Id. ).

At 2:28 p.m., Cox responded to Winnop's email and informed her that he “spoke with [Sackewitz] who had run this past [Sigley] and we're going to pull [Lockhart] from this contract and hire a new resource.” (Id. at Ex. 11). Cox stated that he appreciated “the extraordinary flexibility [Winnop] and the [Chief of Unix] were wiling to extend on this, but we feel like it would be too great a stretch for all parties.” (Id. ). On November 17, 2011, the date Lockhart failed to report onsite for the Linux Position, Defendants removed Lockhart from the Linux Position. (Cox. Depo. at 25 & Ex. 10).

TEKsystems employee Andrea Intlekofer (“Intlekofer”) contacted Lockhart on November 18, 2011 to discuss Lockhart's anxiety disorder. (Lockhart Depo. at 146). She informed Lockhart that in order to find an accommodation for Lockhart's anxiety disorder, TEKsystems would need documentation from a healthcare provider. (Id. ). Intlekofer filed an accommodation request on Lockhart's behalf, and mailed Lockhart the forms for his doctor to complete. (Id. Ex. 11). During a followup conversation on November 23, 2011, Lockhart told Intlekofer he would get the documentation to her via fax. (Id. at 146).

Intlekofer spoke via telephone with Lockhart on November 30, 2011 and notified him she had not received his documentation. Lockhart explained his failure to get her the documentation at the agreed time was the result of complications with his anxiety and depression following his termination. According to Lockhart, due to his condition, he could not leave his home or care for himself. Lockhart also told Intlekofer he had not yet scheduled a doctor's appointment because of his condition.

Intlekofer told Lockhart that TEKsystems' policy requires employees who request accommodations to submit the required medical documentation within two weeks of the accommodation request. (Id. at 148–151, 159).

On November 30, 2011, Intlekofer emailed Lockhart regarding a request from Lockhart's physician for Family Medical...