Stone v. La Quinta Inns, Inc.

• Decision Date: 07 October 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 94-3717.
• Citation: 942 F.Supp. 261
• Parties: Rosemarie A. STONE, et al. v. La QUINTA INNS, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana

942 F.Supp. 261

Rosemarie A. STONE, et al. v. La QUINTA INNS, INC.

Civil Action No. 94-3717.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

October 7, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Clarence O. Dupuy, Jr., Gregory A. Dupuy, Dupuy & Dupuy, Metairie, LA, for Rosemarie A. Stone, Andrew W. Stone.

James Anthony Babst, Desha D. Dardenne, Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy, New Orleans, LA, for La Quinta Inns, Inc.

ORDER AND REASONS

FALLON, District Judge.

Before the Court is a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendant, La Quinta Inns, Inc ("La Quinta"). For the reasons that follow, the motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND: Rosemarie and Andrew Stone were hired by La Quinta and began training as a husband/wife inn manager team in June 1994. They were fired less than two weeks into the training and orientation program. The plaintiffs bring this action under the American with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), alleging that La Quinta fired Andrew Stone because of his vision impairment and fired Rosemarie Stone in retaliation for her actions in support of her husband's efforts to obtain a reasonable accommodation (emulation software to enlarge the font on the front-desk computer screen) for his disability.

ANALYSIS: Summary judgment will be granted only if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions, together with affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the defendant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. "Rule 56 mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish an essential element of that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Willis v. Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc., 61 F.3d 313, 315 (5th Cir.1995). If the movant demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, "the nonmovant must go beyond the pleadings and designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Id. The Court must "resolve factual controversies in favor of the nonmoving party, but only when there is an actual controversy, that is, when both parties have submitted evidence of contradictory facts." Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir.1994).

The defendant seeks dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims on several grounds: 1) that Andrew Stone's vision impairment does not constitute a "disability;" 2) that Andrew Stone is not a "qualified individual;" 3) that the plaintiffs can produce no evidence that La Quinta's proffered reason for discharging Andrew Stone (i.e., insubordination) is a pretext for discrimination; and 4) that Rosemarie Stone fails to establish a prima facie case of retaliation. Alternatively, La Quinta seeks summary judgment: 1) declaring that plaintiffs are not entitled to compensatory or punitive damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1981a; and 2) barring the plaintiffs from recovering front pay damages or reinstatement and cutting off backpay damages on February 21, 1995 pursuant to the after-acquired evidence rule.

A. Whether Stone's Vision Impairment Constitutes a Disability: The ADA prohibits employers from "discriminat[ing] against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). Under the ADA, a "disability" is "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of [the] individual." 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A). In addition, an individual is considered to have a disability if he has a record of or is regarded as having such an impairment. See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(B) and (C). "Major life activities" include "caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(i). An impairment is considered to "substantially limit" a major life activity if it "significantly restrict[s] ... the condition, manner or duration under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity as compared to the condition, manner or duration under which the average person in the general population can perform the same major life activity." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(1)(ii). Where the major life activity at issue is working, "[t]he term substantially limits means significantly restricted in the ability to perform either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes as compared to the average person having comparable training, skills and abilities." 29 C.F.R. 1630.2(j)(3)(ii).¹

In opposition, plaintiffs submit Mr. Stone's affidavit, in which he states that he suffers from a vision impairment known as low vision, which is complicated by low tension glaucoma or demyelinating disease. His vision is 20/400 without correction, and he is registered with the New York Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired as legally blind. He states that glasses do not help him to read a computer screen. La Quinta does not contest this evidence. Nevertheless, La Quinta argues that Mr. Stone's vision impairment cannot be a "disability" under the ADA because he has testified in deposition testimony that his corrected vision "is approximately 20/200." See Defendant's Exhibit B at p. 14.

La Quinta bases this argument on Collier v. City of Dallas, No. 86-1010, 798 F.2d 1410 (5th Cir. Aug. 19, 1986) (unpublished). Because La Quinta failed to attach a copy of this unpublished opinion to its memorandum, all that this Court knows about Collier is that in that case the Fifth Circuit "held that a person is not handicapped if his vision can be corrected to 20/200." Chandler v. City of Dallas, 2 F.3d 1385, 1390 (5th Cir.1993). This Court does not have the benefit of the Collier court's reasoning. It is not even apparent which of the major life activities was at issue in Collier, which was presumably decided under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, not the ADA. If the major life activity was working, then the Collier holding might or might not be applicable here, depending upon what type of job was at issue in that case.

Nevertheless, even if this Court were privy to the facts presented in Collier, this Court would not grant summary judgment on this issue, for the deposition testimony relied upon by La Quinta indicates that Stone's corrected vision "is approximately 20/200." If his corrected vision is 20/201, as opposed to 20/199, then the per se rule of law that the defendant gleans from Collier would not apply. Accordingly, the Court finds that Mr. Stone's affidavit establishes a genuine issue as to whether Andrew Stone's vision impairment significantly restricts his ability to see (as compared to an average person in the general population) or to perform work (as compared to an average person with comparable training, skills, and abilities) so as to amount to a "disability" within the meaning of the ADA. In addition, the Court finds sufficient indication in the deposition testimony of various La Quinta personnel to support a reasonable inference that Stone was regarded by La Quinta as having a disability. Thus, La Quinta is not entitled to summary judgment on this issue.

B. Whether Andrew Stone is a "Qualified Individual": Next, La Quinta argues that even if Stone's vision impairment does amount to a disability, he is nevertheless barred from ADA protection because he is not a "qualified individual with a disability." In order to satisfy this requirement, the plaintiff must show that "with or without reasonable accommodation, [he] can perform the essential functions of [the inn manager] position." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(m). La Quinta does not challenge Stone's ability to perform computer work.² Rather, the defendant maintains that Stone's performance was lacking in virtually all other functions of the inn manager position: housekeeping, maintenance, laundry, guest checkout, hotel security, and operating the hotel telephone system (transferring calls, programming wake-up calls, and activating message indicator lights). In opposition, however, both Andrew and Rosemarie Stone submit affidavits in which they state that Joe and Diane Martin (the couple responsible for training the Stones during Phase I of the training program) complimented the Stones on their performance during training and told the Stones that they would recommend to corporate headquarters that the Stones progress to Phase II training. The Court finds this sufficient to establish genuine issue as to whether Andrew Stone was able to perform the essential functions of the inn manager position.

C. Whether the Plaintiffs Can Produce Evidence of Pretext: If an ADA plaintiff has no direct evidence of discrimination, then he must prove his claim through the indirect McDonnell Douglas method, by showing: "(1) he or she suffers from a disability; (2) he or she is qualified for the job; (3) he or she was subject to an adverse employment action; and (4) he or she was replaced by a non-disabled person or was treated less favorably than non-disabled employees." Taylor v. Principal Fin'l Group, Inc., 93 F.3d 155, 162 (5th Cir.1996) (quoting Daigle v. Liberty Life Ins. Co., 70 F.3d 394, 396 (5th Cir.1995)). "Once the plaintiff has stated a prima facie case, the defendant must `articulate some legitimate nondiscriminatory reason' for its action that adversely affected the employee."³ Daigle, 70 F.3d at 396 (quoting Texas Dep't of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1093, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981)). If the employer meets this burden, then the plaintiff must show that the proffered reason is pretextual. Id. at 397.

Here, La Quinta maintains that Andrew Stone was discharged for insubordination. Specifically, La Quinta asserts that Stone was fired because he refused to leave his room and resume his extended training schedule. In opposition to summary judgment, the plaintiffs submit the Stones' affidavits, which state that Mr. Stone was in his...