Saroki-Keller v. Univ. of Mich.

• Decision Date: 22 October 2021
• Docket Number: Case No. 20-10725
• Citation: 568 F.Supp.3d 860
• Parties: Vivian SAROKI-KELLER, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

568 F.Supp.3d 860

Vivian SAROKI-KELLER, Plaintiff,

v.UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Defendant.

Case No. 20-10725

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

Signed October 22, 2021

William A. Calunas, Andrew G. Peterson, Peterson and Calunas, PLLC, Troy, MI, for Plaintiff.

David J. Masson, University of Michigan Office of the General Counsel, Ann Arbor, MI, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [18] AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [19]

LAURIE J. MICHELSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Vivian Saroki-Keller is a licensed psychologist who, for 17 years, worked as a part-time counselor for the University of Michigan Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the Dearborn campus. Saroki-Keller suffers from chronic pain and is medically unable to work more than 20 hours a week.

Following student calls for reform and consultant recommendations, in June 2019, the University decided to reorganize its Dearborn counseling center. It adopted several changes so CAPS could effectively serve more students and reduce long wait times for students seeking mental health services. One of those changes was to convert the two part-time counseling positions, including Saroki-Keller's, into two full-time positions. Unable to work full-time, Saroki-Keller requested the University maintain her part-time position as an accommodation for her disability. But the University was not able to offer her a part-time counseling position or to find her alternative part-time work in a different University office. So in 2019, after 17 years on the job, Saroki-Keller stopped working for the University.

Saroki-Keller then filed this lawsuit, alleging that the University failed to accommodate her disability, terminated her based on her disability, and failed to engage in the interactive process in violation of the Rehabilitation Act. The essence of the dispute is whether full-time work is an essential function of the counselor position. Both parties feel they are entitled to summary judgment on this issue and have so moved. Having thoroughly reviewed the summary-judgment record, the Court will GRANT the University's motion for summary judgment and DENY Saroki-Keller's cross-motion for the reasons set out below.

I.

A.

Saroki-Keller is a Limited Licensed Psychologist with a Masters in Marriage and Family Psychology. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.212.)

In 1997, Saroki-Keller was injured when she fell from a chair. (Id. at PageID.217.) After the fall, she began experiencing increasingly worse back pain. (Id. ) Eventually, she sought treatment for pain in her right temple, right jaw area, right neck area, thoracic area, lower right sacroiliac area, and her feet. (Id. at PageID.218.) Saroki-Keller's doctor determined that she has chronic pain and started her on a course of treatment that includes physical therapy and multiple injections. (ECF No. 18-7, PageID.148.) As a result, her doctor recommends Saroki-Keller only work part-time. (Id. )

The University hired Saroki-Keller in August 2002, where she worked as a Counseling Psychologist until August 31, 2019. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.212, 228.) Saroki-Keller worked for the University's CAPS office on the Dearborn campus. (Id. at PageID.215, 230.) The position was part-time for the 17 years Saroki-Keller worked at the University. (Id. at PageID.212.)

During her tenure as a counseling psychologist, Saroki-Keller had no performance issues and received several merit-based pay increases. (ECF No. 19-11, PageID.293–295.) Saroki-Keller's supervisor, Dr. Sara Byczek, stated that Saroki-Keller's departure from the University was not performance related in any way. (Id. at PageID.295.)

But the landscape of the University's mental health services shifted in 2018. Student need for mental health support increased and students were complaining about the wait time to get counseling appointments. (ECF No. 18-3, PageID.120.) In November, the student senate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn passed a resolution to "ensure" the University is "upholding its duty to provide an adequate counseling center with staff that meets International Association of Counseling Services (IACS) qualifications for staffing." (ECF No. 18-4, PageID.124.) The resolution stated that 33 percent of students who asked for counseling services were labeled as "semi-urgent status" and at the time, students had to wait an average of 16 days to see a CAPS counselor. (Id. ) The resolution further stated that the University was violating IACS standards because it did not have "at least five to seven, non-graduate trainee, non-director, non-associate director counselors[.]" (Id. ) Nothing in the record indicates that Saroki-Keller was not a "non-graduate trainee, non-director, non-associate director" counselor at the time. The student government asked the University to update its counseling center and hire additional qualified counselors to meet IACS credentials and recommendations. (Id. at PageID.125.)

Also, as part of the November 2018 resolution, the student government requested that the University "consult the Director of Counseling and Disability services in making the changes to [CAPS.]" (Id. ) The University asked Dr. Todd Sevig, who serves as Director of CAPS, to provide a consultation for the Dearborn campus CAPS center and recommend changes. (ECF No. 18-5, PageID.128.)

Around April 2019, Dr. Sevig met with the employees of the counseling center, including Saroki-Keller. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.216.) Saroki-Keller recalls telling Dr. Sevig that she hoped the University would hire more staff because she felt "overworked." (Id. ) Saroki-Keller also testified that the case load seemed to increase each year. (Id. at PageID.214.) Dr. Sevig's consultation report confirmed many of these concerns and the concerns in the student senate resolution, including long wait times and increased demand for mental health services. (Id. at PageID.129.)

Dr. Sevig also offered recommendations on staffing the counseling center. (Id. at PageID.135.) Dr. Sevig recommended, among other things, that the University change the two part-time staff positions, one of which was Saroki-Keller's, to two full-time positions. (Id. ) In his report, Dr. Sevig warned that without adequate staffing at the center, there would be an ever-growing waitlist, difficulty providing services to students experiencing increasingly severe psychological issues, an increase in liability risks to the counseling center and the University, decreased support for the academic success of students, and reduced availability to support the campus community. (Id. at PageID.131–132.)

In May 2019, Saroki-Keller learned that the CAPS department was going to be reorganized pursuant to Sevig's consultation report. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.219.) As part of this reorganization, CAPS was to hire more counselors to meet IACS standards. (ECF No. 19-11, PageID.297 (showing that from September 2019 to September 2020, CAPS hired three full-time counselors in addition to the three already working there).)

In addition to hiring more people, the University made changes to Saroki-Keller's position too. In June 2019, Dr. Byczek told Saroki-Keller that the part-time positions in the office were also going to be eliminated (id. at PageID.220) but that Saroki-Keller could continue working at CAPS as a full-time counselor (see ECF No. 19-11, PageID.299).

In July 2019, Saroki-Keller met with Molly McCutchan, Assistant Director of Human Resources and the ADA contact person for the Dearborn campus. (Id. at PageID.223; ECF No. 19-4, PageID.240.) McCutchan asked Saroki-Keller to submit documentation of her disability, which Saroki-Keller did. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.223; see ECF No. 18-7, PageID.148–149.)

Satisfied with the submitted medical documentation, McCutchan met with Saroki-Keller a few times in July and August 2019 to discuss Saroki-Keller's accommodation request and to see what the University could offer her. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.224; ECF No. 19-4, PageID.243.) Saroki-Keller reiterated she could not work full-time. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.225.) McCutchan reached out to Dr. Byczek, Christina Kline, the University's ADA coordinator, and Amy Finley, the Dean of Students and Dr. Byczek's supervisor, to discuss Saroki-Keller's request. (ECF No. 19-4, PageID.244.) All three agreed that CAPS could not offer Saroki-Keller a part-time position after restructuring. (Id. at PageID.243–244.)

McCutchan then looked to other options for Saroki-Keller. McCutchan recommended that Saroki-Keller look for part-time positions in other departments and initiated the Reassignment Accommodation Committee (RAC) Process and a Work Connections claim to assist. (ECF No. 19-4, PageID.245–246.) But no equivalent part-time position was available. (Id. at PageID.246.) McCutchan also sent Saroki-Keller a list of other accommodations the University could offer if Saroki-Keller accepted the full-time counseling position. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.226.) But her doctor again advised that these accommodations would only work if Saroki-Keller was also on a part-time schedule. (Id. )

After these other options had been exhausted, Saroki-Keller received a letter from Finley stating that her part-time position was to be eliminated as of August 31, 2019. (ECF No. 18-10, PageID.158.) The letter informed Saroki-Keller that CAPS "was unable to accommodate [her] disability," but the University will continue to assist her in locating another position through the RAC. (Id. ) Saroki-Keller would also be placed on reduction-in-force status for one year. (Id. ) As of February 2021, Saroki-Keller is not employed. (ECF No. 19-2, PageID.230.)

B.

Saroki-Keller filed this lawsuit in March 2020. (ECF No. 1.) Saroki-Keller complains that the University failed to accommodate her disability, terminated her based on her disability, and failed to engage in the interactive process under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794(a) (Count I)...