Sanchez, Jr. v. Henderson, Postmaster

• Decision Date: 30 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-3362,98-3362
• Citation: 188 F.3d 740
• Parties: (7th Cir. 1999) Abraham Sanchez, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William J. Henderson, Postmaster General of the United States, Defendant-Appellee
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 740

188 F.3d 740 (7th Cir. 1999)

Abraham Sanchez, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William J. Henderson, Postmaster General of the United States, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 98-3362

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Argued May 14, 1999

Decided July 30, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 96 C 3424--Joan B. Gottschall, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before Flaum, Easterbrook, and Diane P. Wood, Circuit Judges.

Flaum, Circuit Judge.

Abraham Sanchez, Jr., a former postal worker, sued William J. Henderson in his capacity as Postmaster General and head of the United States Postal Service ("USPS"), claiming that he was fired in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq. and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the USPS, holding that Sanchez was not disabled as defined by the Rehabilitation Act and that the USPS's reason for firing him--his absence from work for over eight months without a documented excuse--was not pretextual. We now affirm.

Background

In August 1993, Sanchez was injured in a car accident unrelated to his job as a letter carrier for the USPS at its Cragin facility. After a three week absence, Sanchez returned to work and, on the recommendation of his doctor (Dr. Rudy Rodriguez), was given a thirty day light duty assignment sorting mail. The assignment was then extended to sixty days which, according to Barbara Holman, the manager of the Cragin facility at the time, was the maximum period of temporary light duty allowed. When it expired, she ordered Sanchez back to letter carrying, but he refused, telling Holman that he needed full time light duty work instead. After requesting a "Fitness for Duty Examination" and discussing Sanchez's condition with the postal service's medical examiner, Holman found Sanchez a job answering phones at the USPS's Hyde Park facility and told him to report there on October 25, 1993.

Instead of reporting to Hyde Park, Sanchez stayed home and sent Holman a "Return to Work or School" note from Dr. Rodriguez stating that because of his injuries, Sanchez would "be off work for an indefinite period of time."

After two months without hearing anything more from Sanchez, Alma Willis, who took over from Holman as manager of the Cragin facility, sent him a "five-day notice" letter on December 29, 1993. The letter stated that Sanchez had been absent from work for more than five days and warned that, pursuant to the Employee and Labor Relations Manual ("ELRM"), he needed to submit "not less than once per pay period, satisfactory evidence of continued incapacity for work" or he would be considered Absent Without Official Leave ("AWOL"). The letter cited, but did not set forth, the text of Section 513.364 of the ELRM which specified the kinds of documentation required and indicated that medical statements such as "under my care" and "receiving treatment" were not acceptable as evidence of an inability to work. Enclosed with the letter was a Request for Notification of Absence ("Form 3971"). Sanchez responded to the letter on January 3, 1994 with another note from Dr. Rodriguez (nearly identical to the first), and a completed Form 3971 on which he listed "injury comp" as the reason for his absence and stated that he had submitted workers' compensation forms in October 1993.

At some point in early 1994, Lilliette Franklin replaced Willis as the manager at Cragin. Although she had never supervised Sanchez because his absence began before she assumed the position, Franklin occasionally saw him when he stopped by the facility to use his lock box or socialize with other employees. On one of these occasions, Sanchez told Willis that he was not returning to work anytime soon. Although Franklin did not tell Sanchez when she saw him that the documentation of his inability to work was inadequate, she sent him a second "five-day notice" letter on March 7, 1994. This time Sanchez responded with only a 3971 form, containing essentially the same information as the first. Later, Sanchez testified that he was aware that the form itself did not constitute proper documentation of his absence.

Franklin considered Sanchez's submission insufficient and on March 16, 1994, the same day she received it, she sent a memo to Henrietta Johnson, the area Labor Relations Manager, and Gary Como, the Mid-North Area Manager, recommending that Sanchez "be removed from the roll for abandonment of position." The memo indicated that Sanchez had, at some point during his absence, filed an Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") claim relating to his transfer to Hyde Park and that an EEO investigator had visited the Cragin facility the day before.

In early May 1994, Sanchez received a notice from Franklin announcing that unless he responded within ten days, he would be removed from his job for having failed to provide "satisfactory evidence of continued incapacity for work." He did not respond within ten days, although he continued to pay social visits to the Cragin facility. In late May, Sanchez sent his sister to Cragin with what he claims was a packet of information relating to his injuries. The information referenced Sanchez's workers' compensation claim to the Department of Labor ("DOL"). Although late, Franklin accepted the packet and placed it in Sanchez's file. At about this time, Sanchez received a letter from the DOL asking for additional documentation of his claim because his materials lacked "essential factual and medical evidence" to determine whether he was unable to work.

Finally, on June 7, 1994, Como sent Sanchez a decision letter stating that his termination would be effective as of June 15, 1994, and explaining that the information previously submitted, including the 3971 forms and the notes from Dr. Rodriguez, did not adequately substantiate any medical reason for his extended absence. The letter also referred to his workers' compensation claim and noted that he had similarly failed to provide the DOL with sufficient documentation of his condition.

After his termination, Sanchez filed additional EEO claims against the USPS for age, race, gender, and national origin discrimination and retaliatory discharge. After a hearing in February 1996, an ALJ determined that Sanchez had not been discriminated against. The Merits Systems Protection Board ("MSPB") affirmed this decision after its own evidentiary hearing.

While the MSPB appeal was pending, Sanchez filed this action in the district court claiming a variety of forms of discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and discrimination based on disability under the Rehabilitation Act. The court granted the USPS's motion for summary judgment holding that Sanchez had failed to show that he was disabled as defined by the Rehabilitation Act, and that he had failed to present evidence that the postal service's stated reason for the discharge was a pretext for discrimination under Title VII. Sanchez now appeals.

Discussion

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, construing the evidence and the inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Curran v. Kwon, 153 F.3d 481, 485 (7th Cir. 1998). Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact such that judgment is proper as a matter of law. See id. (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). In order for a party "to avoid summary judgment, that party must supply evidence sufficient to allow a jury to render a verdict in his favor." Williams v. Ramos, 71 F.3d 1246, 1248 (7th Cir. 1995). The mere existence of some alleged factual dispute is insufficient to defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986).

Rehabilitation Act

Sanchez's first claim is that USPS manager Holman discriminated against him based on his physical condition when she transferred him to Hyde Park for light duty. He invokes the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. sec.701 et seq., which prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating against an otherwise qualified individual based solely on that individual's real or perceived disability. See Duncan v. State of Wisconsin Dept. of Health and Family Services, 166 F.3d 930, 934 (7th Cir. 1999).¹ The Act defines as disabled one who "(i) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, (ii) has a record of such an impairment or (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment." 29 U.S.C. sec.706(8)(B); 45 C.F.R. sec.83.3(i)(iv). Major life activities are defined as "functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working." 29 C.F.R. sec.1613.702(d). Substantial limitation in the context of work (the only life activity in which Sanchez claims a perceived impairment) has been described as the inability to perform a broad class of tasks as opposed to a specific job. See Duncan, 166 F.3d at 934.

We agree with the district court's conclusion that Sanchez failed to produce sufficient evidence of a disability as defined by the Act. The plaintiff does not claim to have actually had any substantial impairment at the time of his transfer, but insists that he was perceived as having one by Holman, his former supervisor at Cragin. Sanchez's only evidence for the assertion is Holman's request that he undergo a "Fitness for Duty Examination", and the examiner's recommendation that he stop carrying mail. Yet this does not suggest a factual dispute concerning a perceived disability. Initially, Holman's order that Sanchez return to work indicates that she perceived him as not suffering from any impairment. Holman only asked for the examination after Sanchez had refused the order. It does not imply...