Steele v. Thiokol Corp, 99-4126

• Decision Date: 22 February 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-4126,99-4126
• Citation: 241 F.3d 1248
• Parties: (10th Cir. 2001) ROBERT J. STEELE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THIOKOL CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee, and BRUCE ESPLIN; AL MART, Defendants
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1248

241 F.3d 1248 (10th Cir. 2001)

ROBERT J. STEELE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THIOKOL CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee, and BRUCE ESPLIN; AL MART, Defendants.

No. 99-4126

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS TENTH CIRCUIT

February 22, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Utah. (D.C. No. 2:96 CV 1038C)

David J. Holdsworth of Sandy, Utah, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Darryl J. Lee (Eric T. Johnson with him on the brief) of Wood Crapo LLC, Salt Lake City, Utah, Defendant-Appellee.

Before SEYMOUR, KELLY and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge.

Robert Steele appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment to Thiokol Corporation and two individual defendants on his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 1210. We affirm.

I

Robert Steele began his employment with Thiokol in 1987, working as a Rocket Test Technician in the main plant test area.¹ In 1988, after a year with the company, he was promoted and received a raise. In 1989, Mr. Steele was transferred from the main plant test area to the Hydrotest group. While working in Hydrotest, Mr. Steele was twice promoted on the basis of his performance.

As the district court described the problem,

"Steele had problems getting along with his co-workers. Hydrotest group members often teased Steele about being stupid. For example, team members would hum 'If I Only Had a Brain,' write 'dunce' on the back of Steele's hard hat, and draw cartoons with Steele's name on them depicting him as the 'big dumb one.' Steele's co-workers also made comments which Steele believed were directed at his mental health. Steele often heard co-workers refer to him as 'Psycho Bob.' Steele overheard one team member say, 'I hope I'm not here or around when Bob loses it,' and another say that he thought Steele was 'crazy as hell. He's a psychopath.' One team member would make cuckoo noises in Steele's presence. Steele also took offense when his supervisor said, 'Robert, what am I going to do with you and Jill?' Jill Hopper was a Thiokol employee who many believed to have mental problems."

App. at 58.

Mr. Steele often complained about his co-workers' behavior to the foreman of the Hydrotest group, Linda Caldwell. He described the above incidents to Ms. Caldwell on many occasions and asked her to intervene. Ms. Caldwell cautioned Mr. Steele that were she to intervene in the situation, it might make matters worse for him because he would be perceived as "a mama's boy" by the other workers in the group. She nevertheless spoke to the crew about the problem. Mr. Steele also informed his supervisor, Bill Clark, that he had a disability but did not request any accommodation or action by the company. Mr. Clark apparently responded to Mr. Steele by saying "Bullshit, you do not have a disability." Id. at 174.7. Mr. Steele subsequently requested that Mr. Clark transfer him out of the Hydrotest group and into the Postfire group because he "had had enough abuse." Id. at 139-140. Mr. Clark granted his request and Mr. Steele was transferred in August 1993.

While working in Postfire, Mr. Steele was diagnosed with depression and he began to take Zoloft. In accordance with Thiokol policy, Mr. Steele informed the company nurse that he was taking Zoloft and she, in turn, informed Mr. Clark, Mr. Steele's supervisor, about Mr. Steele's medication. In February 1994, Mr. Clark contacted the company nurse, stating he was "concerned that Robert Steele is showing mood swings, wondered if the medication Zoloft would be the cause." App. at 280. A doctor was consulted and the company nurse told Mr. Clark that "the mood swings and paranoia described are not side effects of Zoloft, perhaps other problems." Id.

In December 1994, Mr. Steele spoke with Dave Rutherford, Thiokol's human resources representative, and Greg Kotter, plant manager, concerning his treatment in the Postfire group and the harassment he was experiencing. Mr. Steele told them "that I'd had it. I had gone to various people. I've gone to . all these people trying to ask for help." App. at 211. In response, Mr. Kotter prepared a memo which detailed the problems Mr. Steele was having and also what Mr. Steele was doing that was bothering his co-workers. While the memo noted that Mr. Steele was teased more than others on his crew, the memo also stated that Mr. Steele's co-workers believed Mr. Steele was "obsessed" with his planned litigation against Thiokol because he talked about it continually. Mr. Steele "sometimes threatened to involve his co-workers in the lawsuit and, on one or two occasions, threatened to fight co-workers in the parking lot." App. at 60. Mr. Kotter initiated training for everyone on Mr. Steele's team, including Mr. Steele, about harassment and appropriate conduct in the workplace. He also requested that Mr. Steele refrain from discussing his lawsuit against the company with co-workers during business hours.

In January 1995, Mr. Steele was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) by Suze Harrington, a counselor. As described by the district court,

"[Mr.] Steele's OCD is exhibited by mannerisms such as walking in the same path and performing jobs in a certain way. Failure to follow these routines causes Steele anxiety and stress and sometimes results in panic attacks. However, Steele's OCD did not interfere with his work except that it sometimes caused him to spend more time performing a task."

Id. at 59.

On January 12, Mr. Steele received "Phase I"² counseling from Mr. Clark for continuing to discuss his lawsuit with his coworkers despite Thiokol's request that he not do so. On January 23, Mr. Steele received "Phase II" counseling from Mr. Clark because Mr. Steele continued to discuss his litigation with his coworkers.

In April 1995, Mr. Steele got into a fight with his team leader, Mr. Anderson, during which Mr. Anderson slapped Mr. Steele. As a result, Mr. Anderson was demoted from his supervisory position, his pay was cut, and he was transferred to the Grit Blast group. Later in the month, Mr. Steele learned that he might also be transferred to the Grit Blast group. He was worried about working in that group because of Mr. Anderson, so he asked Mr. Kotter to transfer him to Tooling Refurbishment instead, a request which was granted.

After beginning work in Tooling Refurbishment, Mr. Steele began experiencing problems with his co-workers similar to those he had experienced before. "Steele's former co-workers told his crew that Steele's nickname was 'Psycho Bob.' After speaking with Steele's former co-workers, a member of the Tooling Refurbishment crew asked Steele 'how Harvey the Rabbit was doing.' Someone also put a sign on Steele's new supervisor's office reading, 'Mental Health Services.'" Id. at 59. In December, Mr. Steele received a second Phase II counseling "as the result of two separate altercations with co-workers." Id. at 61.

In July 1996, after receiving a Phase III counseling following another argument with a co-worker, Mr. Steele suffered a nervous breakdown and took a three-and-a-half-week leave of absence. A psychiatrist certified that Mr. Steele would be able to return to work on August 12, 1996, which Mr. Steele did.

On September 12, Mr. Steele was terminated from his position "pursuant to a general reduction in force ('RIF')." App. at 61. The decision to terminate Steele was made by his supervisor in Tooling Refurbishment, David Hess, in accordance with Thiokol's RIF policies and procedures. "After considering Steele's work performance and contributions to the team together with his disciplinary history and ability to get along with co-workers, Hess found that Steele was rated lowest within his work group." Id.

Mr. Steele brought this action claiming that he had been subjected to a hostile work environment and then terminated in retaliation for complaining about that work environment. The district court granted Thiokol's motion for summary judgment on the hostile work environment, holding that Mr. Steele was not disabled under the ADA. The district court denied Thiokol's summary judgment motion on the retaliation claim, finding "a genuine issue of material fact regarding Thiokol's motivation for Steele's discipline and subsequent termination which precludes summary judgment." Id. at 68. Accordingly, the retaliation claim went to a jury, which found in favor of Thiokol and against Mr. Steele. Mr. Steele appeals only the district court's award of summary judgment to Thiokol on the hostile work environment claim.

II

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal standard. Summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 (c). When applying this standard, we view the evidence and draw reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Simms v. Oklahoma ex rel. Dep't of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Servs., 165 F.3d 1321, 1326 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 120 S.Ct. 53 (1999).

Mr. Steele contends the district court erred in holding that a plaintiff bringing a hostile work environment claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act must be disabled and not merely "impaired." Alternatively, he argues the district court erred in concluding he was not disabled by his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) for purposes of the Act. We examine each of these issues in turn.

III

No federal appellate court has yet directly ruled on whether a hostile work environment claim can even be brought under the ADA. Some circuits have assumed, without deciding, that such an ADA claim is cognizable. See Walton v. Mental Health Ass'n of S.E. Pa., 168 F.3d 661, 666-67 (3rd Cir. 1999); McConathy v. Dr. Pepper/Seven...