Reynolds v. Am. Nat'l Red Cross

• Decision Date: 07 December 2012
• Docket Number: 11–2280.,Nos. 11–2278,s. 11–2278
• Citation: 701 F.3d 143
• Parties: Benjamin REYNOLDS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS; American Red Cross Greenbrier Valley Chapter; Walter M. Lockhart, Defendants–Appellees, and American Red Cross National Headquarters, Washington, DC; American Red Cross Mid–Atlantic Service Area, Raleigh, NC; Nikki McBain, Chapter Solutions Manager, Raleigh, NC, Defendants. Benjamin Reynolds, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. American National Red Cross; American Red Cross Greenbrier Valley Chapter; Walter M. Lockhart, Defendants–Appellants, and American Red Cross National Headquarters, Washington, DC; American Red Cross Mid–Atlantic Service Area, Raleigh, NC; Nikki McBain, Chapter Solutions Manager, Raleigh, NC, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

701 F.3d 143

46 NDLR P 80

Benjamin REYNOLDS, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS; American Red Cross Greenbrier Valley Chapter; Walter M. Lockhart, Defendants–Appellees,andAmerican Red Cross National Headquarters, Washington, DC; American Red Cross Mid–Atlantic Service Area, Raleigh, NC; Nikki McBain, Chapter Solutions Manager, Raleigh, NC, Defendants.

Benjamin Reynolds, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.American National Red Cross; American Red Cross Greenbrier Valley Chapter; Walter M. Lockhart, Defendants–Appellants,andAmerican Red Cross National Headquarters, Washington, DC; American Red Cross Mid–Atlantic Service Area, Raleigh, NC; Nikki McBain, Chapter Solutions Manager, Raleigh, NC, Defendants.

Nos. 11–2278, 11–2280.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: Oct. 4, 2012.

Decided: Dec. 7, 2012.

Sean Willard Cook, Meyer Ford Glasser & Radman, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant/Cross–Appellee. Constantinos George Panagopoulos, Ballard Spahr, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellees/Cross–Appellants.

Before KING, KEENAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

No. 11–2278 affirmed in part and vacated in part; No. 11–2280 dismissed by published opinion. Judge THACKER wrote the opinion, in which Judge KING and Judge KEENAN joined.

OPINION

THACKER, Circuit Judge:

Benjamin S. Reynolds (“Appellant”) appeals the district court's award of summary judgment in favor of the American National Red Cross and the American Red Cross Greenbrier Valley Chapter (collectively, “Appellees”). The district court held that Reynolds failed to submit sufficient evidence to meet his burden with regard to various Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) claims. Despite their victory below, Appellees nonetheless cross-appeal on the ancillary issue of whether the number of employees of the National Red Cross and the Greenbrier Valley Chapter can be aggregated for purposes of determining “employer” status under the ADA. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court's award of summary judgment to Appellees, vacate the district court's ruling that the Greenbrier Valley Chapter is an “employer” under the ADA, and dismiss the cross-appeal.

I.

A.

Reynolds worked for the Greenbrier Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross in Lewisburg, West Virginia (the “Chapter”). He began as a volunteer in 1994 and then worked as a per diem instructor beginning in 2004, being paid for each health/safety, first aid, and CPR class he taught. He eventually became a part-time employee in 2005. For the entire time he was with the Chapter, Reynolds worked directly for Walter M. Lockhart, Executive Director.¹ Reynolds and Lockhart met some years previously when they both volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol. They interacted socially “every few days,” J.A. 509, ² and Lockhart loaned Reynolds around $6,000 over the course of their friendship.

In 2006, Lockhart offered Reynolds a full-time job with the chapter as a “Manager of Service Delivery,” a job description that Lockhart drafted himself, and Reynolds accepted. Reynolds began work in that position on or about August 1, 2006. The job description provided, “[j]ob is physically comfortable; individual has discretion about walking, standing, etc.” J.A. 114.31. It also required Reynolds to “[t]each[ ] training courses as necessary” and “recruit [ ] and retain[ ] volunteer instructors for community classes and mission related courses.” Id. at 114.28, 114.30. The parties agree “90% of [Reynolds's] job was to teach health and safety classes. However, [he] was also tasked with recruiting or soliciting training classes from the community.” Id. at 763. The salary was listed at $23,600.00 annually with no benefits.³

On or about August 5 or 6, 2006, during the first week that Reynolds worked as Manager of Service Delivery, Lockhart instructed Reynolds to help move a baby grand piano from the home of a donor to Lockhart's personal residence. Lockhart and Robert Clark, a member of the Chapter's Executive Committee, also helped. Reynolds alleges that he experienced “severe pain in both his neck and upper back” when he started moving the piano. Am. Compl. ¶ 14.⁴ Clark testified, “when we got into the process of moving the piano [Reynolds said,] ‘boy, my back really hurts'. So we say, ‘then don't touch the piano’.” J.A. 703. Clark said he “strongly advised [Reynolds] not to help.” Id. Reynolds alleges, however, that Lockhart “ignored [his] plea [to stop moving the piano] and required him to continue assisting in delivering and unloading the piano to his personal residence.” Am. Compl. ¶ 15. Reynolds admitted that prior to this incident, his back was “stiff and sore because he had previously moved mattresses for the Chapter.” J.A. 763.

Reynolds alleges that after the piano incident he went to the emergency room “a few days later ... to seek relief from the persistent and severe pain in his neck and upper back.” Am. Compl. ¶ 16.⁵ He saw two physicians, Dr. Boisverte and Dr. Kribs, both in Lewisburg, who eventually referred him to Dr. Dilaawar Mistry at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville. Because Reynolds's car had been repossessed and he had no other way to get to the appointment, Lockhart drove Reynolds to Charlottesville to see Dr. Mistry on September 7, 2006.

Dr. Mistry examined Reynolds and noted he “complain[ed] of persistent left arm pain.” J.A. 116–17. The physical examination showed, however, “[n]ormal range of motion and strength in flexion, extension and axial rotation of the neck. Normal range of motion and strength of both shoulders, elbows and wrists. There was mild sensory loss on the tip of the index finger of the left hand compared to the right.” Id. at 117. Dr. Mistry also noted, in the “history” portion of the report, that Reynolds's X-ray showed “intervertebral disk space narrowing with osteophytic change most pronounced at C5–C6 and C6–C7” and “some foraminal encroachment secondary to osteophytes bilaterally.” Id. at 116. Dr. Mistry scheduled an MRI to be performed in Charlottesville, made a follow-up appointment on September 19, 2006, and gave Reynolds a note stating that he could return to work “with restrictions that include lifting weights only up to 15 pounds.” Id. Dr. Mistry testified that due to Reynolds's

normal range of motion and strength of his shoulders, elbows and wrists, ... [and] neck and flexion/extension, axial rotation, and his indication that he needs to return to work for the Red Cross, I felt as a clinician that up to 15 pounds would be reasonable to let him continue his work....

Id. at 328.

After the examination, Dr. Mistry said Reynolds had “no physical limitations as far as range of motion” and he “would [not] consider [Reynolds] disabled.” J.A. 333. Reynolds never returned to Charlottesville for his follow-up appointment or MRI. Therefore, Dr. Mistry had no occasion to determine if the fifteen-pound lifting restriction that he imposed was still appropriate weeks later.

Reynolds claims that after he returned to work, he was asked to lift things in excess of fifteen pounds, despite Lockhart's knowledge of Dr. Mistry's orders. Upon their return to Lewisburg, Lockhart “instructed [Reynolds] to assist with moving boxes, mattresses, furniture and a five-drawer file cabinet. [Reynolds] estimated that he lifted items weighing more than fifteen pounds two to three times a week.” J.A. 765, 533. Notably, however, Reynolds “never refused Lockhart's instruction to lift any item while he was under the restriction” and “could recall only one conversation when he told Lockhart that he believed that moving a loaded file cabinet would be too heavy for him.” Id. at 765–66, 540.

After allegedly sustaining the above-described back and neck injuries, ⁶ Reynolds twice told Lockhart he wanted to file a workers' compensation claim. Reynolds stated that Lockhart told him that if he did so, “[he] would be dismissed and that the Red Cross would fight [the claim].” Id. at 488. Lockhart also told him the Chapter's Executive Committee “[isn't] going to let you do that,” and a workers' compensation claim “would cost the chapter either one or one-and-a-half percent rate increase hike” and the Chapter “wouldn't stand for that.” Id. at 490.

B.

At some point before the end of 2006, the Chapter determined that it no longer had the funds to pay Reynolds, and Reynolds was so advised. Then, on or around January 28, 2007, Lockhart verbally informed Reynolds that he was terminated because the Chapter did not have the funds to pay him. On January 30, 2007, Reynolds received a termination letter from Lockhart stating, “[d]ue to budget restriction [sic] the Board of Director [sic] has asked me to termination [sic] your employment with this chapter as of today.” The letter continued,

We are exercising our rights as an “at will employer.” As you know this had been the balance for the last ninety day [sic], hoping you would generate enough income to cover your salary. This has not been done. Also the single family files has [sic] not been entered into the CAS system, since July 2006. Only about fifty percent of the Instructor [sic] in health and safety has been upgraded.

J.A. 120.

As noted, there is some dispute as to whether Reynolds was required to bring in enough money to cover his salary as a part of his employment. It is undisputed that Reynolds did not receive any negative evaluations or reprimands related to his job performance prior to his termination.

C.

After his termination from the Chapter, Reynolds applied for and was denied West Virginia workers' compensation benefits for his alleged back and neck injuries because his application was untimely. He then filed a disability discrimination charge against the Chapter with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”) based on those alleged injuries. He claimed that he was “harassed, retaliated against, treated differently from others, denied a reasonable accommodation, and unlawfully discharged based on...