Soto-Ocasio v. Federal Exp. Corp.

• Decision Date: 23 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-2280,P,SOTO-OCASI,97-2280
• Citation: 150 F.3d 14
• Parties: 8 A.D. Cases 1067, 13 NDLR P 105 Ivettelaintiff, Appellant, v. FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION, Defendant, Appellee. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 14

150 F.3d 14

8 A.D. Cases 1067, 13 NDLR P 105

Ivette SOTO-OCASIO, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION, Defendant, Appellee.

No. 97-2280.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Heard Feb. 23, 1998.

Decided July 16, 1998.

Federico Lora Lpez for appellant.

Vivian Nunez, with whom Luis D. Ortiz Abreu and Goldman, Antonetti & Cordova were on brief, for appellee.

Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, SELYA and STAHL, Circuit Judges.

STAHL, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Ivette Soto-Ocasio ("Soto") appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendant Federal Express Corp. ("Federal Express" or "the company"). Plaintiff had claimed that Federal Express failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to her known physical limitations, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA" or "Act"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12117, and Puerto Rico law. We affirm.

I.

The following facts are undisputed. In June 1988 plaintiff began working for Federal Express as a full-time operations agent at its Borinquen Station Office ("BSO") in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The purpose of the operations agent position as set forth in a job description dated March 11, 1988, was to "perform routine administrative/clerical duties necessary for efficient field operations." These duties included entering data into the company's computer, composing letters and memoranda, reviewing reports for accuracy, ordering supplies, typing and filing various forms and papers, processing bills, maintaining personnel data, and auditing air bills. Plaintiff was the only operations agent in the Aguadilla office, although three customer service agents and twenty-five couriers also worked there.

To carry out her duties, plaintiff would arrive at work at 6:00 a.m. From 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m., she would enter data from employees' time cards into a computer. She would then begin her filing and ordering duties, as well as continue her data entry duties, which required that she enter into a computer data from each of the previous day's "hubs" left in a tray for her. Hubs are air bills which contain each customer's account number, the sender's and recipient's names and addresses, and other pertinent information. On any given day, she would enter 80 to 375 hubs into the system, a task which, on some days, required that she work overtime, until 4:00 or 5:00 p.m., because company policy required that hubs be entered by the end of the next business day. During the day, she would take a single one-hour break.

On March 7, 1993, plaintiff was involved in a car accident during non-working hours. Her physician, Dr. Hiram Luigi, diagnosed her as having a cervical sprain with myofacial pain, which is pain due to damage in the muscles in the trapezius and cervical areas of the body. After exhausting her allotted sick leave, plaintiff took additional leave pursuant to Federal Express's short term disability plan, which allowed her to receive benefits for an additional twenty-six weeks. On September 9, 1993, plaintiff applied for long-term disability benefits under Federal Express's disability insurance policy. Two months later, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company ("John Hancock"), Federal Express's insurance carrier, approved the application. Subsequently, plaintiff suffered a period of depression and was hospitalized from February 23 until March 13, 1994, at a psychiatric hospital in San Juan.

On March 24, 1994, Dr. Luigi, who had last examined plaintiff in mid-January 1994, filled out a medical release form at plaintiff's request. He did not reexamine plaintiff prior to signing the release, on which he wrote the words, "patient light duty." Because Federal Express's BSO operations manager, George Franqui, was on vacation at the time, plaintiff submitted the medical certificate to senior manager Craig Connors, who rejected the certificate and refused to permit her to return to work, expressing doubts about the meaning of "light duty." On April 4, plaintiff obtained a second release (again without an examination) from Dr. Luigi, this one describing her limitations as follows: "Work 2 hours and rest 10 minutes. Cannot lift more than 7 pounds. Patient must be in treatment." In his deposition, Dr. Luigi testified that, at the time he completed the second release, he did not know the nature of plaintiff's occupation. Plaintiff presented the second certificate to Franqui, who accepted it and told her that he would give her a work schedule.

Notwithstanding his initial receptiveness, Franqui stated in a letter to plaintiff, dated May 10, that she would not be allowed to return to work until she had obtained medical certification that she was able "to resume all of [her] responsibilities" and "to work without restrictions." He further stated that "[i]n order to maintain operational efficiency and service to our customers it is necessary that I take steps to replace you in your position." In regard to the decision to replace plaintiff, Franqui testified that

I initially thought that she would be able to return back to work, after consulting with Personnel. We wanted to have more specific information of her restrictions. So I initially did tell her that I was going to give her a work schedule but it was just until we could get a[sic] feedback from our doctor. Based on the medical leave of absence policy for anybody who has been out for an extended period of time before reinstating that person we have to send them, that person, to be seen by one of our doctors.

There is no evidence, however, that, prior to May 10, Federal Express raised its concerns about plaintiff's medical release forms either to Dr. Luigi or to its own medical personnel.

Plaintiff responded to Franqui's letter on May 12, expressing willingness to be examined by a physician designated by Federal Express, and requesting reasonable accommodation. She also sought permission to participate in Federal Express's "Temporary Return to Work" ("TRW") program, and an evaluation of her case by the company's Human Capital Management ("HCM") Committee. A month later, on June 14, Connors asked Dr. Leonel Shub to examine plaintiff "to determine if she is physically able to return to her full duties in Federal Express." After the examination, Dr. Shub reported to Connors that, in his opinion, plaintiff was "not physically capable of performing the essential functions of her job given her present condition." He stated that her condition did not permit her to lift, push, or pull more than ten pounds; sit or stand for more than 45 minutes at a time; climb stairs repetitively; perform jobs that require cervical flexion--"the motion of chin to chest"--"of more than 25 for more than 30 consecutive minutes;" ¹ or elevate her hands above her shoulders. He concluded that "[s]hould there exist a reasonable accomodation [sic] which complies with these restrictions, it is recommended that she return to work on a gradual basis starting with a 4 hours [sic] part time job." Federal Express did not provide a copy of the report to plaintiff or discuss it with her. Based on the restrictions that Dr. Shub outlined, Franqui, Connors, and senior personnel representative Lynn Busler decided not to reinstate plaintiff and instead referred plaintiff's case to the HCM Committee as plaintiff had requested. The three decisionmakers disregarded plaintiff's request to participate in the TRW program, purportedly on the basis that it was not available to Puerto Rico employees. Meanwhile, on June 24, 1994, plaintiff filed a charge of employment discrimination under the ADA with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The HCM Committee met on August 31, 1994, and, in a memorandum to Franqui, stated that it required "additional medical information regarding the date Ms. Soto will be fully released to return to work." It thus instructed Franqui to contact Dr. Shub for this information, stating that, in the event that Dr. Shub needed to reexamine plaintiff, Franqui should have plaintiff set up an appointment with Dr. Shub for that purpose. Finally, the committee determined that if plaintiff would be able to return to work within 90 days, she should do so under the TRW program. The record is unclear as to whether Franqui contacted Dr. Shub as instructed; however, on October 23, 1994, Eric Hernandez, who had replaced Franqui as operations manager, sent a memorandum to plaintiff stating that the HCM Committee had requested additional information about her condition and instructing her to contact Dr. Shub for an appointment.

By the time Hernandez sent the memorandum, plaintiff had been involved in two more car accidents, which had worsened her physical condition and caused a recurrence of her depression, for which she had been rehospitalized until October 10, 1994. She did not revisit Dr. Shub for the requested second examination. Furthermore, in September 1994, on the advice of John Hancock, plaintiff had filed a claim with the Social Security Administration ("SSA"), which on October 15, 1994, informed her that she was entitled to Social Security disability benefits beginning August 1994. The SSA further informed plaintiff that it had been "determined that [her] period of disability began February 23, 1994," the date "[her] condition first prevented [her] from doing substantial gainful work." Franqui testified that plaintiff's position had been vacant since March 1993 and that the work load had "been distributed among 4 or 5" Federal Express employees. ²

On September 26, 1995, plaintiff sued Federal Express under the ADA and Puerto Rico antidiscrimination laws. Following completion of discovery, the court granted Federal Express's motion for summary judgment, determining that plaintiff had failed to meet her burden of showing that she was a "qualified individual with a disability" under the ADA. The court also dismissed, without prejudice, plaintiff's claims under Puerto Rico law. Plaintiff appeals.

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