McInnis v. Alamo Community College District

• Decision Date: 20 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-50612,99-50612
• Citation: 207 F.3d 276
• Parties: (5th Cir. 2000) DANIEL D. MCINNIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 276

207 F.3d 276 (5th Cir. 2000)

DANIEL D. MCINNIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 99-50612

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

March 20, 2000

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Before GARWOOD, WIENER, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.

DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:

D. Dwain McInnis ("McInnis") appeals from the final judgment entered by the district court, Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy presiding, which granted summary judgment to the defendant Alamo Community College District ("ACCD") on his claims brought pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act. The magistrate judge granted summary judgment after concluding that McInnis failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA since he neither was, nor was regarded as being, disabled, and alternatively that ACCD had presented a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for terminating his employment which he failed to establish was a mere pretext for intentional discrimination. Because we find that there remain genuine issues as to the material facts in this case, we vacate the order of the magistrate judge granting summary judgment in favor of ACCD, and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1975, McInnis suffered a severe closed head injury when he was involved in an automobile accident. After a period of rehabilitation, McInnis was able to return to work full time and has not received any physical therapy since approximately 1980. His resulting permanent impairments include slurred speech, walking with a limp, a language communication disorder, and partial paralysis of his right side. According to McInnis, these impairments have substantially limited the major life activities of walking, speaking, communicating, and performing some manual tasks.

After having first worked for several banks and bank holding companies in Beaumont, Texas, McInnis was hired on January 11, 1988 as part of Palo Alto College's ("PAC") full-time faculty. His job duties included both classroom instruction and coordinating a joint program sponsored by the American Institute of Banking ("AIB") and PAC. During his employment, McInnis concedes that he did not feel the need for, nor did he request any, "reasonable accommodation" for his impairments. And there is no dispute as to McInnis's qualifications to perform the essential functions of his position as a business administration instructor.

At some point in June 1992, McInnis was moved from his position as coordinator of the AIB/PAC banking program to a full-time teaching position. Brian Skinner, who was then president of PAC, drafted an un-dated letter in which he provided McInnis with the reasons for his transfer. He stated that "first, the banking program was not functioning well and, secondly, you had a handicap that may have contributed to this problem. You were put into teaching to provide 'reasonable accommodation.'"¹

At some point during his employment as a teacher, a student complained to Department Chair John Schlegel, who relayed the oral complaint in writing to Judith Cardenas, the acting Dean of the Business and Applied Science Department, that McInnis was intoxicated in class. Schlegel recommended investigation since the student who was a trained nurse observed McInnis's slurred speech, unsteady gait, blood-shot eyes, and pauses during his lecture. In his memorandum, Schlegel also indicated that he believed the student's impression may have been based upon a misperception regarding McInnis's disability since her report focused, and was based primarily upon, his unsteady gait and slurred speech.

The record contains three letters which were sent from AIB to ACCD regarding McInnis's performance as banking program coordinator. The first, dated June 10, 1991, was sent by Amanda Talaat, executive director of AIB, to the Dean of the Occupational/Technical Education Department at PAC. The letter related AIB's concerns about the program and the belief that the problems were related to McInnis. The second, dated April 15, 1992, was sent by Peggy Walker, chairman of the AIB board, to John Schlegel, the Business and Applied Science Department Chair. That letter stated that McInnis should not continue as director because of his problems with "oral communication." The third, dated November 19, 1993, was drafted by William Goetz, chairman of the AIB board in San Antonio, to Dr. Joel Vela, the new President of Palo Alto College (Vela was hired in May, 1993). That letter noted a marked improvement in the AIB/PAC banking program after McInnis had been removed and stated that AIB would rethink its relationship with PAC if McInnis were returned to the position of coordinator. Ms. Talaat testified that the third letter was prepared at the request of ACCD, more than one year after McInnis was removed from the coordinator position, because Dr. Vela "needed it."

The decision to renew McInnis's teaching contract in 1993 was vested in Vela, the new president of PAC. On November 22, 1993, Vela informed McInnis by letter that his contract would not be renewed beyond December 31, 1993. His termination date, however, was subsequently extended to the end of the Spring semester of 1994. Despite this letter, the committees in charge of promotion and tenure recommended to Vela that McInnis be both promoted and granted tenure. Notwithstanding the committees' recommendation, Vela recommended to the Chancellor, who in turn recommended to the ACCD Board of Trustees, that McInnis receive neither a promotion nor tenure. Predictably, he got neither. Vela stated in his deposition that there were two reasons why he did not want to renew McInnis's contract: (1) the November 19, 1993 letter addressed to him from AIB, and (2) the allegation that McInnis taught a class while intoxicated.

On January 13, 1994, McInnis filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, alleging that he had been discriminated against on the basis of a perceived disability when his employment contract was not renewed. McInnis received a right to sue letter from the EEOC, and the present lawsuit resulted.

As noted above, the magistrate judge concluded that McInnis failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under the ADA since he neither was nor was regarded as disabled. In the alternative, the magistrate judge concluded that ACCD had presented a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for terminating McInnis' employment, which he failed to establish was a mere pretext for intentional discrimination. McInnis timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. See Sherrod v. American Airlines, Inc., 132 F.3d 1112, 1119 (5th Cir. 1998). Summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 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 judgment as a matter of law.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

A fact is material if it could affect the outcome of the lawsuit, and a dispute about a material fact is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 106 S. Ct. 2505 (1986). In reviewing all of the evidence, courts must look at the evidence and draw all inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Hibernia Nat'l Bank v. Carner, 997 F.2d 94, 97 (5th Cir. 1993). Thus, we review all of the evidence in this case in a light most favorable to McInnis, drawing all reasonable factual inferences therefrom and making all credibility determinations related thereto in his favor.

1. The Prima Facie Case of Discrimination.

This being a case brought under the Americans With Disabilities Act where only circumstantial evidence is offered to show the alleged unlawful discrimination, we apply the McDonnell Douglas, Title VII burden-shifting analysis. See Daigle v. Liberty Life Ins. Co., 70 F.3d 394, 396 (5th Cir. 1995) (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 1824 (1973)). Under this framework, a plaintiff must first make a prima facie showing of discrimination by establishing that: (1) He is disabled or is regarded as disabled; (2) he is qualified for the job; (3) he was subjected to an adverse employment action on account of his disability; and (4) he was replaced by or treated less favorably than non-disabled employees. See Burch v. Coca-Cola Co., 119 F.3d 305, 320 (5th Cir. 1997), cert. denied 118 S. Ct. 871 (1998). Once the plaintiff makes his prima facie showing, the burden then shifts to the defendant-employer to articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the adverse employment action. Once the employer articulates such a reason, the burden then shifts back upon the plaintiff to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the articulated reason was merely a pretext for unlawful discrimination. See Daigle, 70 F.3d at 396.

As noted above, the threshold element of a prima facie showing of discrimination under the ADA is a showing that the plaintiff either is, or is regarded as being disabled. Failure to establish an actual or perceived disability is thus fatal to a plaintiff's case. The magistrate judge based her conclusion that McInnis failed to set forth a prima facie case of ADA discrimination on two sub-determinations: (1) that McInnis was neither actually disabled nor regarded as disabled; and (2) that he was not terminated on account of the alleged disability or perception of disability. We confine our consideration of this case to those two issues.

A. Is McInnis either disabled or "regarded as" disabled?

The magistrate judge properly identified the relevant standards for defining and determining when...