Stevenson v. Hyre Elec. Co.

• Decision Date: 16 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-3501.,06-3501.
• Citation: 505 F.3d 720
• Parties: Beverly STEVENSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HYRE ELECTRIC CO., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

505 F.3d 720

Beverly STEVENSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HYRE ELECTRIC CO., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 06-3501.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued May 21, 2007.

Decided October 16, 2007.

Joanne Kinoy (argued), Kinoy, Taren & Geraghty, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Scott B. Greene (argued), Perkins Coie, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before RIPPLE, WOOD, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

On February 9, 2004, Beverly Stevenson had an extreme emotional and physical response to a stray dog entering her workspace at Hyre Electric Company. She left work soon after and for the most part stayed home for the next several days. The few times she tried to return to work, she felt unable to function and demonstrated erratic and emotional behavior. Her coworkers were so concerned that they eventually locked her out of the building. Then on March 9, 2004, Stevenson was informed by letter that she had been terminated effective February 25.

Stevenson claims that Hyre had notice that she was suffering from a serious health condition and thus violated her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., when it fired her. Despite the unprecedented nature of Stevenson's trouble-some behavior following the dog incident, Hyre claims it was unaware that she might be suffering from a serious mental health condition. The district court agreed with Hyre and granted its motion for summary judgment. We see some genuine issues of material fact lurking in this case, and we therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.

I

We review a district court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo, and we construe all facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Vallone v. CNA Fin. Corp., 375 F.3d 623, 631 (7th Cir.2004). Our account of the facts reflects that perspective.

Prior to February 9, 2004, Stevenson had no documented history of misconduct or health problems at Hyre. All that changed at approximately 10:00 am on February 9, when a stray dog climbed through the window of the Hyre warehouse where Stevenson worked and approached her. She immediately felt physical symptoms, including a headache, a rush of blood to her head, and a tightening of her neck and back. Stevenson's supervisor Mary Cicchetti recounted that immediately after the dog incident, she entered the office area where Stevenson worked and found Stevenson very agitated and "spraying Glade," a room deodorizer. Upon seeing Cicchetti, Stevenson began yelling and cursing, screaming that "f* *king animals shouldn't be in the workplace." Cicchetti said that Stevenson was "very intimidating" and belligerent, and that her agitated behavior lasted three or four minutes.

Two hours after the dog incident, Stevenson informed Hay Lee Yuen, the accounting manager, that she was ill and needed to go home. She left and went home immediately; she did not go to a doctor's office or hospital that day. The next morning, Stevenson left a voicemail for Cicchetti and said that she "wasn't feeling well and . . . wouldn't be in today." At that point she went to the hospital for an unrelated medical test.

Hyre's president, Charles Guest, testified in his deposition that he knew the individual employees who work at Hyre and that prior to February 9, Stevenson's behavior had been satisfactory and that he could not recall any verbal or written warnings. On February 11, Stevenson went to her workplace at approximately 7:00 am to speak with Guest. It was an explosive encounter. Guest testified that "[Stevenson] charged into my office yelling and in a very aggressive manner." He continued, "She said it was wrong for her to be subjected to this kind of thing in the office, to have f* *king dogs running by her desk and threatening her, and that management needs to do something about this." He tried unsuccessfully to calm her down, but she continued to scream at him. He also assured her that every effort would be made to prevent anything similar from happening in the future. The conversation lasted eight to ten minutes. Guest testified that after the incident, other employees came up to him and made statements such as "What was that all about?" and "Boy, that was something."

The accounting manager, Yuen, overheard part of the February 11 meeting between Stevenson and Guest. She reported that she could not make out the entire conversation but "[Stevenson's] voice was loud and sounded like screaming at the president." She acknowledged that Stevenson sounded "very upset." After the meeting with Guest, Stevenson told Cicchetti that "she could not work" and left the premises.

Later that day, Stevenson filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding stray animals at Hyre's workplace. Stevenson also went to the emergency room. She was examined by a doctor after complaining of three days of headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and loss of appetite following an "emotionally stressful incident at work." An EKG test and CAT scan both came back normal. Stevenson was discharged with a diagnosis of "anxiety and stress" and was prescribed Ativan.

The next day, February 12, Stevenson left a message for Cicchetti stating that she was ill and would not be coming to work. Later that day she met with a union representative, Richard Sipple, to discuss the dog incident. During the meeting, Stevenson mentioned that she was "off sick" but did not elaborate. On Friday, February 13, and Monday, February 16, Stevenson again called in sick but gave no additional details about her condition.

On February 17, Stevenson went to work at 7:00 am. Cicchetti had boxed up the contents of Stevenson's desk and moved them to another room. Cicchetti claimed that she did so to accommodate Stevenson's fear of stray animals. Stevenson stayed at work for a few hours, but she was still agitated, completed little or no work, and ultimately called the police because she believed that she was somehow being harassed. At approximately 10:00 am, she told Cicchetti that she was not feeling well and left work. Before leaving, Stevenson left the hospital's report of her February 11 emergency room visit on Yuen's desk. After Stevenson left, Guest gave Cicchetti permission to change the locks on the doors of Hyre's office. Guest then sent a letter by overnight mail to Stevenson that stated in part:

You no longer have any accrued vacation or sick leave available. Therefore, any additional leave must be governed by Hyre's Family and Medical Leave Policy. Under the provisions of Hyre's Employment Manual, you are required to obtain a medical certification from your physician or other health care provider for a serious health condition FMLA leave. If you do not do so within fifteen (15) days from the commencement of your leave or by Tuesday, February 24, 2004, your absences will be deemed unexcused and you will be terminated from Hyre's employ.

On February 18, Stevenson again called in sick. She went to a doctor's appointment that she had scheduled on February 13 or 14. There she met with Dr. Mary Jo Liszek, her primary care physician, and told Dr. Liszek about her medical concerns. Dr. Liszek prescribed a sleep aid for Stevenson and scheduled a follow-up visit for February 20. Stevenson claims that Dr. Liszek told her to stay home for the next two days.

On February 20, Stevenson again met with union representatives and recounted her story once more. She also gave the representatives the documentation from her ER visit. Then Stevenson went to her follow-up appointment with Dr. Liszek. She was seen first by Dr. Mahan, an associate of Dr. Liszek, to whom she reported that her anxiety, sleeping difficulties, and headaches had improved. She told Dr. Mahan that she wanted to return to work, but that she needed a doctor's note to do so. Dr. Liszek then saw Stevenson briefly and wrote a note excusing her absence from February 9 through February 20. The parties agree that this note does not establish that Stevenson had been instructed by Dr. Liszek not to work for those days.

On Monday, February 23, Stevenson did not return to work. She claims that her union representatives told her that the union did not want her to return. Sipple recalled telling Stevenson that she could not return to work until she had a "doctor's release." That day, Sipple and another union representative met with Guest and Hyre employee Jim Palm to discuss Stevenson's situation. Also that day, Stevenson faxed to the union a copy of the note from Dr. Liszek; the union passed the note along to Hyre.

The next morning, Stevenson called Cicchetti and said that, in keeping with the union's instructions, she was not coming to work that day. Later, she changed her mind and arrived at Hyre at approximately 10:00 am. She discovered that the locks had been changed, and so she knocked on the door until Guest answered it. Guest refused to accept her note from Dr. Liszek; instead, Guest gave her a box containing her personal belongings "because she wasn't coming back into the office." Later, the union called Guest, and he told them that the note from Dr. Liszek was not sufficient. This information was relayed to Stevenson, and the union advised her to get another doctor's note. Stevenson returned to Dr. Liszek and asked for a note certifying that she could return to work; she did not, however, mention the FMLA specifically. Dr. Liszek obliged with a second note purporting to excuse her through February 24. Stevenson faxed this note to the union that evening with a cover letter explaining that Dr. Liszek was willing to answer questions and complete additional forms if needed. The union then asked Guest in writing to "[k]indly put forth in writing your reasons why this [first] release was not enough and let us know what is needed to return Beverly to work." Guest never responded.

On February 25, the union faxed the second doctor's note to Hyre. It is unclear whether the...