Sarkisian v. Austin Preparatory Sch.
| Decision Date | 06 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action 20-12037-DPW |
| Parties | NANCY DER SARKISIAN, Plaintiff, v. AUSTIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
NANCY DER SARKISIAN, Plaintiff,
v.
AUSTIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL, Defendant.
Civil Action No. 20-12037-DPW
United States District Court, D. Massachusetts
December 6, 2022
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
DOUGLAS P. WOODLOCK, DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff, Nancy Der Sarkisian, an experienced teacher, brings this action against her former employer, Defendant Austin Preparatory School, claiming that the school (1) failed to provide her a reasonable accommodation for her disability (an extended and open-ended leave of absence from teaching she never specifically asked for before crystalizing that proposal in this litigation) and chose instead to terminate her employment, and in doing so, (2) discriminated against her due to her age. Austin Preparatory School has moved for summary judgment on both counts, arguing that Mrs. Der Sarkisian was not a “qualified individual” with respect to disability discrimination and that she cannot establish pretext as to age discrimination. I will grant the motion for summary judgment.
I. BACKGROUND
A. The Parties
Plaintiff, Nancy Der Sarkisian, was seventy years old at the date of filing her Complaint, and had previously been employed by Austin Preparatory School for twenty-four years. Ms. Der Sarkisian resides in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Defendant, Austin Preparatory School (“Austin Prep”), is a private co-educational institution in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
B. Travel of the Case
The case now before me was commenced on October 2, 2020, when
Ms. Der Sarkisian filed her Complaint in the Massachusetts Superior Court, Middlesex County. Following that filing, on November 12, 2020, Austin Prep accepted service of the Summons and Complaint. On November 13, 2020, Austin Prep filed a Notice of Removal to this Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1441(c)(1)(A).[1]
C. Factual Background 1. Austin Prep and Mrs. Der Sarkisian's Tenure through 2017
Austin Prep, a private Catholic independent day school located in Reading, Massachusetts, serves 750 students from Grades 6 through 12. Dr. James Hickey serves as the Head of School, and was forty-nine years old as of the filing of the motion for summary judgment before me. John Weber was fifty-six years old at that point and acts as Austin Prep's Chief Financial Officer.
Throughout Mrs. Der Sarkisian's employment, Austin Prep observed an Equal Employment Opportunity policy and a Handicap or Disability Accommodation policy. The Handicap or Disability Accommodation policy stated that individuals with disabilities “should advise his or her immediate supervisor of any disability and the nature of the accommodation necessary to enable him or her to perform one or more of the essential functions of the job.” Austin Prep maintained these policies in its Employment Handbook, which Mrs. Der Sarkisian received.
In 1996, Mrs. Der Sarkisian started working at Austin Prep as a substitute teacher for the sixth grade. She then became a full-time teacher for sixth grade English; she taught sixth and seventh grade English at Austin Prep from 1996 to 2017. Beginning in 2017, Mrs. Der Sarkisian taught ninth grade English.
2. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's Duties
As a teacher at Austin Prep, Mrs. Der Sarkisian was required to attend her classes in person; she never taught classes remotely or via video. In addition to teaching five English classes, Mrs. Der Sarkisian “monitor[ed] various activities at Austin Prep, serv[ed] as an advisor, attend[ed] faculty meetings, and . . . was involved with students on campus throughout the day.”
3. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's Employment Agreements
Mrs. Der Sarkisian's 2018-2019 employment was governed by a collectively bargained agreement between Austin Prep's Board of Trustees and Austin Prep's Teacher's Association (“APTA Agreement”). However, the APTA Agreement was terminated at the end of the 2018-2019 school year and was not in effect for the 2019-2020 school year. Mrs. Der Sarkisian was aware that the APTA Agreement was no longer in effect during the 2019-2020 school year.
In a June 9, 2019 e-mail, Dr. Hickey announced that Austin Prep was implementing new policies related to sick days and disabilities. Specifically, Austin Prep reduced the number of potential sick days from 110 to 65 and implemented a long-term
disability policy. The long-term disability policy carried no cost and became effective September 1, 2019. Mrs. Der Sarkisian signed a contract that included these benefits.
During Mrs. Der Sarkisian's deposition she recognized that Austin Prep had indicated that the long-term disability was meant to substitute for the elimination of the sick days. She testified that she believed this arrangement meant that “if . . . [she] used up the 65 [sick] days,” “[she] had nothing to worry about” because of the long-term disability benefits. Her counsel repeated this contention at the November 30, 2022 argument of the summary judgment motion before me. More pertinently, however, Mrs. Der Sarkisian acknowledged during her deposition - and her counsel conceded during oral argument - that Austin Prep never indicated that she would be “entitled to continue [her] employment while . . . receiving long term disability benefits.”
4. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's First and Second Surgeries
In the summer of 2019, Mrs. Der Sarkisian met with Dr. Daniel Ward at Longwood Orthopedic Associates, Inc. regarding pain in her hip and learned that she would need hip surgery. Dr. Ward notified Mrs. Der Sarkisian that he had a cancellation and would be able to fit her in for surgery on September 5, 2019. Accordingly, Mrs. Der Sarkisian notified Austin Prep that she would have hip surgery on September 5, 2019 and would be out for approximately four weeks. Austin Prep granted her request for leave and retained Jonathan
Bourdeau, a forty-one-year-old substitute teacher having no formal contract with Austin Prep, to cover her five classes.
Although Mrs. Der Sarkisian had originally intended to return to teaching in October 2019, she needed a second surgery and notified Austin Prep on October 13, 2019 that she“[m]ost likely . . . will be out for the first semester.” Accordingly, Austin Prep requested that Mrs. Der Sarkisian's new orthopedist, Dr. Van Flandern[2], who was also affiliated with Longwood Orthopedic Associates, Inc., provide an updated Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) Certification because her leave was going to be longer than she initially represented. Dr. Van Flandern returned the updated certification on October 28, 2019; in the certification, he opined that Mrs. Der Sarkisian would likely require 2-3 months to recover, that she could not perform her job functions, and that her condition would last from October 5, 2019 to January 5, 2020. After receiving this information, Mr. Weber told Mrs. Der Sarkisian that she was expected to return to Austin Prep on January 6, 2020 and gave her information regarding the new long-term disability program.
5. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's Third Surgery
Mrs. Der Sarkisian, after reading through the long-term
disability program, notified the school that she would apply for the benefits and on November 26, 2019 filled out her portion of that application. To qualify for long-term disability benefits, “an individual must be unable to perform at least one of the material duties of the individual's regular occupation on a part-time or full-time basis because of an injury or sickness.” Mrs. Der Sarkisian reported that she became unable to work on September 4, 2019.
In the long-term benefits application, Mrs. Der Sarkisian also notified the school that she required a third surgery, which would occur on November 27, 2019. Accordingly, although she initially wrote January 2020 as her return-to-work date on her long-term benefits application, she crossed that out and wrote “unsure after 3rd surgery.” When Dr. Van Flandern filled out his portion of her application, he stated that Mrs. Der Sarkisian had a “total temporary disability.” He reported that she needed three to six months to recover, and could not walk, stand, or drive. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's husband submitted the long-term disability form to Austin Prep on December 4, 2019. Mrs. Der Sarkisian emailed Mr. Weber at Austin Prep the next day to confirm receipt of the application, noting that she “definitely will be out longer than [she] expected” and would “have to do an intravenous injection of antibiotics at home until at least February 7th.”
6. The Accommodation Form
After Mrs. Der Sarkisian told Austin Prep that she would need additional time to rehabilitate following her three surgeries, Austin Prep asked her to give her doctor an Accommodation Request Inquiry Form (“Accommodation Form”). The Accommodation Form asked Dr. Van Flandern to provide information regarding “whether there is a reasonable accommodation that would allow [Mrs. Der Sarkisian] to perform the essential functions of her job” because Austin Prep “ha[d] insufficient information to adequately determine whether [she] [was] disabled as defined by the [Americans with Disabilities Act].” At this point, Mrs. Der Sarkisian had used all of her available FMLA leave and sick days.
Dr. Van Flandern responded that her hip “impairment” would last three to six months, that it affected a number of her “major life activit[ies],”[3] that she was “currently non-weight bearing,” that she could not walk, use stairs, bend, squat, lift, or drive, that she would have difficulty performing “[a]ll” of her job functions, and that “[s]he should be on total temporary disability.” Dr. Van Flandern did not suggest any accommodations, aside from “total temporary disability.” Mrs. Der Sarkisian signed the form releasing her medical information on December 3, 2019.
7. Mrs. Der Sarkisian's Employment Termination
On December 26, 2019, after reviewing the Accommodation Form, Mr. Weber of Austin Prep called...
To continue reading
Request your trial