Szedlock v. Tenet

• Decision Date: 11 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. CivA 00-991-A.,CivA 00-991-A.
• Citation: 139 F.Supp.2d 725
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
• Parties: Patricia Lee SZEDLOCK, Plaintiff, v. George TENET, Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Defendant.

Page 725

139 F.Supp.2d 725

Patricia Lee SZEDLOCK, Plaintiff, v. George TENET, Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Defendant.

No. CivA 00-991-A.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division.

April 11, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Claude David Convisser, Claude D. Convisser & Associates, P.C., Alexandria, VA, David Gabriel Bookbinder, American Canoe Association Inc., Springfield, VA, for plaintiff.

Dennis E. Szybala, U.S. Attorney's Office, Alexandria, VA, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

This is an action brought by a hearing-impaired former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA" or "Agency") alleging that the CIA¹ violated the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., by failing to provide her with "reasonable accommodations" in light of her disability. Following a three-day jury trial and a verdict awarding plaintiff $25,000 in compensatory damages, two matters remain for consideration: (i) defendant's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50, Fed.R.Civ.P., and (ii) plaintiff's request for equitable relief in the form of back pay and front pay.

I.

Plaintiff suffers from a congenital, sensorineural hearing loss in both of her ears. To cope with her hearing loss, plaintiff has used hearing aids since the age of five. Between 1989 and 1998, plaintiff, as a CIA employee, held seven different positions, including engineering positions, supervisory positions, and a stint as a full-time student at Johns Hopkins University to obtain a masters degree.² In each position, plaintiff's severe hearing loss³ made it difficult for her to participate in multi-party meetings, which accounted for a large portion of plaintiff's typical work day. To address the effects of her hearing loss, plaintiff, throughout her nine-year career, was persistent and consistent in repeatedly requesting that an oral interpreter or a note-taker be provided to assist her in multi-party meetings.⁴ The overwhelming majority of these requests for accommodations were denied.⁵ Following a determination by the CIA's Office of Medical Services that plaintiff was unable to perform the essential functions of her position or any other equivalent position within the Agency with or without reasonable accommodations, plaintiff, in 1998, sought and received a Medical Disability Retirement ("MDR"). Thereafter, plaintiff exhausted her administrative remedies, and on June 13, 2000, she filed the instant action alleging that throughout her employment defendant had failed to provide her with reasonable accommodations for her disability. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff's partial motion for summary judgment was denied, while defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part. See Szedlock v. Tenet, C.A. No. 00-991-A (E.D.Va. Mar.6, 2001).⁶ Thereafter a jury trial was held. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff, finding specifically (i) that plaintiff, with or without reasonable accommodation, could perform the essential functions of her position, (ii) that defendant failed to provide the requisite reasonable accommodation, (iii) that defendant did not in good faith attempt to do so, and (iv) that, as a result, plaintiff was entitled to $25,000 in compensatory damages.⁷

II.

Following the close of plaintiff's evidence in her case-in-chief, and again at the close of all the evidence, defendant moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. Both motions were denied. Thereafter, following return of the jury verdict, defendant renewed its motion under Rule 50(b) for judgment as a matter of law on the ground that the evidence at trial is legally insufficient to support the jury's finding that defendant had not made a "good faith effort" to provide reasonable accommodations to plaintiff's disability. This motion has been fully briefed and is now ripe for disposition.

A jury verdict should be accorded the "utmost respect." But if "there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis" for the verdict, a motion for judgment as a matter of law must be granted. Price v. City of Charlotte, 93 F.3d 1241, 1250 (4th Cir.1996); see Wilhelm v. Blue Bell, Inc., 773 F.2d 1429, 1433 (4th Cir.1985). In assessing whether this standard has been met, a "[c]ourt should not attempt to substitute its judgment for the jury," weigh the evidence, or pass on the credibility of witnesses. Jacobs v. College of William & Mary, 517 F.Supp. 791, 794 (E.D.Va.1980), aff'd, 661 F.2d 922 (4th Cir.1981). Instead, the evidence must be construed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made, giving that party the benefit of all inferences. See Lack v. Wal Mart Stores, Inc., 240 F.3d 255, 259 (4th Cir.2001); Duke v. Uniroyal, Inc., 928 F.2d 1413, 1417 (4th Cir.1991). With the evidence so construed, judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50 may be granted only if a reasonable jury, on that evidence, could reach only one result. Put in the context of this case, judgment as a matter of law on the good-faith defense may be granted only if the evidence, construed in plaintiff's favor, precludes a finding that defendant acted in good faith. See Price, 93 F.3d at 1250.

Defendant contends that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because it made good faith efforts to provide reasonable accommodations for plaintiff's disability, and under 42 U.S.C. § 1981a, a plaintiff, in such circumstances, is not entitled to recover compensatory damages.⁸ In support of its motion, defendant identifies eight distinct instances in which it provided, or attempted to provide, plaintiff with a reasonable accommodation. These instances, defendant argues, confirm that it sought in good faith to accommodate plaintiff's disability. Specifically, these instances are as follows: (1) Patricia W. and William D.,⁹ plaintiff's supervisors in Position 6, sought to accommodate plaintiff's inability to participate fully in multi-party meetings by managing or interrupting discussions to ensure that only one person spoke at a time; (ii) because air travel posed problems for plaintiff, she was not required to travel by airplane; (iii) defendant installed high-intensity projectors in two conference rooms so that the lights could remain on while slides were shown, thereby aiding plaintiff who was unable to read the lips of the speaker when the lights were dimmed to use an overhead projector during multi-party meetings; (iv) defendant published a vacancy notice for a part-time note-taker position to assist plaintiff in multi-party meetings and elsewhere; (v) Patricia W. attempted to convert the part-time note-taker position into a full-time position; (vi) Patricia W. contacted the Virginia state agency for the deaf and hard-of-hearing to locate either a note-taker or an oral interpreter; (vii) Lynnea G., the Program Manager of the CIA's EEO for the Deaf and People with Disabilities, attempted to recruit interpreters; and (viii) defendant permitted Nancy K. to provide oral interpreting services for plaintiff twice during position six and several times, including a six month period, prior to Position 6.

To be sure, this evidence would allow a reasonable jury to find that defendant attempted in good faith to provide accommodations for plaintiff's disability. Yet, this does not end the analysis, for there is also ample record evidence to support a finding that defendant did not act in good faith. This is so because "[t]he very evidence that suggests that the company did not reasonably accommodate [plaintiff] is also probative of a lack of good faith." Howell v. Michelin Tire Corp., 860 F.Supp. 1488, 1494 (M.D.Ala.1994). During plaintiff's tenure in Position 6 (September 30, 1996 to October 13, 1997), plaintiff made approximately 130 requests for either an oral interpreter or a note-taker,¹⁰ of which only eight percent were met. Specifically, (i) on two or three occasions, defendant provided a sign interpreter—Nancy K.—who mouthed the words of speakers in meetings, and (ii) on eight occasions, defendant provided a note-taker or court reporter who transcribed speakers' words during meetings.¹¹ These limited efforts to accommodate the plaintiff stand in sharp contrast to efforts made to accommodate other hearing-impaired employees. Significantly, the record reflects that defendant filled approximately sixty to ninety percent of the requests for accommodations made by other deaf and hearing-impaired employees at the CIA. Moreover, until the fall of 1997, defendant provided at least five hard-of-hearing employees with dedicated interpreters. Yet, defendant offered no explanation why plaintiff was not provided with the accommodations other employees received.¹² Based on the disparity in the rates in fulfilling accommodation requests, a reasonable jury could have concluded that defendant's attempts to accommodate plaintiff were not in good faith.

Moreover, a reasonable jury could reach a similar conclusion concerning defendant's attempt to hire a part-time note-taker. Significantly, defendant published a vacancy notice for a part-time, GS-10 level position. Yet, the record reflects that other interpreters employed by the CIA were full-time, GS-12 level employees. Furthermore, defendant limited its search for a note-taker to employees within the CIA. Given this, a reasonable jury could conclude that the effort to hire a note-taker was not in good faith because the limitations defendant imposed made it unlikely that any CIA employee would be interested in the position. Nor is a different conclusion required in light of Patricia W.'s efforts to convert the position from part-time to full-time. This is so because it is the good faith of the CIA, not of Patricia W., that is relevant here. Accordingly, the appropriate inquiry is the CIA's refusal to seek a full-time position, rather than Patricia W.'s contrary effort. In this...