Shedlock v. Department of Correction, SJC-09135 (MA 12/8/2004)

• Decision Date: 08 December 2004
• Docket Number: SJC-09135
• Parties: PAUL SHEDLOCK vs . DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION & others. 1
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 1

PAUL SHEDLOCK vs. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION & others.¹

SJC-09135

Supreme Court of Massachusetts.

Suffolk.

September 7, 2004.

December 8, 2004.

Americans with Disabilities Act. Imprisonment, Disabled prisoner. Governmental Immunity. Words, "Disability," "Qualified handicapped individual," "Reasonable accommodation."

Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on July 15, 1998.

The case was heard by Ralph D. Gants, J., on motions for summary judgment.

The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.

Myong J. Joun (Howard Friedman with him) for the plaintiff.

Julie E. Daniele (Kevin Anahory with her) for the defendants.

Jane K. Alper, James R. Pingeon, & Sarah R. Wunsch for Disability Law Center & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief.

Present: Marshall, C.J., Greaney, Ireland, Spina, Cowin, Sosman, & Cordy, JJ.

SOSMAN, J.

The plaintiff, an inmate at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, at Norfolk (MCI-Norfolk), brought the present action complaining that prison officials had failed to provide reasonable accommodation for his disability (in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12132 [2000] [ADA], the Federal Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 [2000] [RA], and art. 114 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution), and that they had retaliated against him for asserting his right to such reasonable accommodation (in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 12203). The defendants' motion for summary judgment was allowed, and the present appeal followed.² We transferred the case to this court on our own motion. For the following reasons, we conclude that Shedlock has presented sufficient evidence to permit the finder of fact to conclude that he is a disabled or handicapped person within the meaning of the ADA, the RA, and art. 114; that, having obtained the requisite medical confirmation of his need for a first-floor cell, transferring Shedlock to cells on higher floors could be found to be a denial of a reasonable accommodation; that, Shedlock's having failed to make a request for reasonable accommodation with respect to any other programs or services, the defendants cannot be held liable for failing to extend such accommodation; and that the defendants are immune from suit with respect to Shedlock's damages claims for retaliation. The summary judgment in favor of the defendants is therefore affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.

1. Facts. Viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the record reveals the following facts. In 1984, Shedlock sustained serious and permanent injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident. A slip and fall some years later further aggravated those injuries. Shedlock now has a constellation of medical problems, including sciatica, degenerative joint disease, and left leg atrophy, and regularly suffers pain in his neck, shoulder, back, hip, knee, and ankle. Shedlock has developed a "severe antalgic gait," a limp adopted to minimize pain. In 1992, while he was incarcerated, Shedlock began using a cane, and he has used a cane continually since that time.

Shedlock was transferred to MCI-Norfolk in November, 1997. His various medical problems were confirmed during an intake and classification review. On his arrival at MCI-Norfolk, Shedlock was housed on the second floor in Unit 8-1. On December 23, 1997, a correction officer attempted to move Shedlock to a new housing assignment on the second floor of another unit. Shedlock informed him that his disability prevented him from climbing stairs, and requested that he be housed on the first floor. The officer allegedly replied that they did not "cater to cripples" at MCI-Norfolk. The officer then contacted his sergeant, whereupon the sergeant ordered Shedlock to go to his new cell or go to the disciplinary segregation unit. Shedlock chose to go to the segregation unit, and was issued a disciplinary report for refusing a housing assignment.

On December 31, 1997, Shedlock was released from the segregation unit and was assigned to a first-floor cell. On January 13, 1998, a disciplinary hearing was held before a hearing officer, who found Shedlock guilty of disobeying an order and disrupting the orderly running of the institution with respect to the incident of December 23. In that ruling, the hearing officer noted that Shedlock's "medical folder" had been checked, and that there was nothing in those medical records to indicate that Shedlock could not climb stairs. According to Shedlock, the hearing officer advised him not to appeal the disciplinary ruling, and warned him that, if he appealed, his stay at MCI-Norfolk would be "very bad." Shedlock nevertheless appealed from the ruling to the superintendent, who denied the appeal on February 2, 1998.

On February 4, 1998, medical personnel issued a special needs form indicating that, due to Shedlock's "chronic lower back pain [and] arthritis in his ankle" and increased "difficulty climbing stairs," Shedlock should be housed on the first floor. Such forms, referred to as "medical orders," are transmitted to the deputy superintendent and to the manager of the unit where the inmate is housed, and are ordinarily received within one to three days of the date they are issued.³ On February 5, the day after his medical order had issued, Shedlock was reassigned from his first-floor cell to a second-floor cell. When the correction officer ordered Shedlock to go to the second floor, Shedlock informed him that he had been issued a medical order requiring him to be housed on the first floor. The officer then went into the sergeant's office, and the sergeant returned to speak with Shedlock. Shedlock advised the sergeant that he had the requisite medical order, to which the sergeant replied that he "didn't care" and ordered Shedlock to go to the second floor or back to the segregation unit. Shedlock opted to move upstairs. Shedlock also spoke with the superintendent, explaining that he had obtained a medical order for first-floor housing. The superintendent took no action.

On June 3, 1998, Shedlock was reassigned to a cell on the third floor of another unit. He filed the present action on July 15, 1998. On July 16, 1998, Shedlock was moved to a first-floor cell.

During his time at MCI-Norfolk, Shedlock tried to walk in the yard for one hour each day. Some days he was able to walk for as much as two hours. While he was able to take such walks on his "very good days," his symptoms would prevent him from walking on other days (as often as two or three times a week). Shedlock had to stand in line from twenty to forty minutes each day to receive his medication, which was "difficult" for him. In addition, it became increasingly difficult for Shedlock to climb stairs. Despite that difficulty, Shedlock was able to navigate the stairs to get to the dining hall on the first floor, and to visit inmates on other floors. When Shedlock's cell needed to be cleaned, he went down the stairs to the basement, where the supplies were kept, and then climbed the stairs back to his cell. He received the assistance of a fellow inmate to climb stairs to get to a computer class and to access the library. Shedlock wanted, but was unable, to use the gym, because it was located at the bottom of a flight of stairs that lacked handrails, and the alternate entrance, by which he could avoid those stairs, was too far away for Shedlock to walk in the permitted movement time. Shedlock was similarly unable to attend meetings of religious groups because they met in another building "and there's more stairs over there than [he] can deal with." At no time did Shedlock complain to prison officials about his difficulties getting to and from such programs as the gym, library, computer class, or religious groups, other than to remark (at a social event) that he thought the stairs to the gym should have handrails.

2. Discussion. a. Qualified individual with a "disability" under the ADA and the RA. Title II of the ADA provides that "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity." 42 U.S.C. § 12132. The RA similarly provides that "[n]o otherwise qualified individual with a disability . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." 29 U.S.C. § 794. The motion judge ruled that the facts, even when viewed in the light most favorable to Shedlock, were insufficient to establish that he suffered from a "disability" within the meaning of the ADA or the RA. We disagree.

The term "disability" is defined as "(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment." 42 U.S.C. § 12102 (2) (2000). The RA uses a comparable definition. 29 U.S.C. § 705 (9)(B) (2000) ("physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities"). Here, Shedlock contends that his various long-standing injuries substantially limit his walking. There is no dispute that he suffers from a physical "impairment" as a result of those injuries and that walking constitutes a "major life activit[y]." See Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 197 (2002) (Toyota Motor); 45 C.F.R. § 84.3(j)(2)(ii) (2003). Rather, the issue is one of degree: does the impairment "substantially limit[]" Shedlock's walking?

To qualify as a "substantial" limitation on a major life activity, the limitation must be "`considerable' or `to a large degree.'" Toyota Motor, supra at 196,...