Tangires v. Johns Hopkins Hosp., No. CIV.H-98-4181.

• Decision Date: 10 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. CIV.H-98-4181.
• Parties: Dimitra TANGIRES, Plaintiff, v. THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

79 F.Supp.2d 587

Dimitra TANGIRES, Plaintiff, v. THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL, Defendant.

No. CIV.H-98-4181.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

January 10, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Christina Guereola Sarchio and Beveridge & Diamond, Washington, DC, for plaintiff.

Elizabeth G. Jacobs and Serotte, Rockman & Wescott, Towson, MD, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER HARVEY II, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Dimitra Tangires ("Tangires") was employed by defendant The Johns Hopkins Hospital (the "Hospital") from December 1984 until February 1993. She has filed a civil action in this Court against her former employer seeking relief under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the "Rehabilitation Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 791, et seq.

In Count I of her complaint, plaintiff Tangires alleges that defendant denied her requests for accommodation, in violation of provisions of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. Count II alleges that the Hospital, because of plaintiff's disability, failed to promote her or assign preferred work projects to her despite her qualifications and favorable evaluations, in violation of provisions of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. In Count III, it is alleged that defendant terminated plaintiff's employment and discriminated against her because of her known disability, in violation of provisions of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. Compensatory and punitive damages, including back pay and front pay, as well as declaratory and other relief are here sought by the plaintiff.

Pursuant to a Scheduling Order entered by the Court, the parties have engaged in extensive discovery. Presently pending before the Court are defendant's motion for summary judgment and defendant's motion to exclude the testimony of plaintiff's expert witnesses. The parties have submitted memoranda, affidavits, exhibits and excerpts from depositions in support of and in opposition to the pending motions. A hearing on the motions has been held in open court. For the reasons stated herein, the Court has concluded that defendant's motion for summary judgment must be granted. Since summary judgment will be entered in this case in favor of defendant as to all three counts of the complaint, it is not necessary for the Court to address defendant's motion to exclude the testimony of plaintiff's expert witnesses.

I Background Facts¹

Tangires was born in 1955 and has suffered from asthma since childhood. Her asthma became dormant during her teen years, but a recurrence was triggered as the result of Tangires having undergone a Contrast-Enhanced Computer Tomography ("CT") Scan in 1980. This CT Scan revealed that plaintiff had a pituitary adenoma, a type of tumor, which required treatment and medication. Since having had the CT Scan, Tangires has suffered from asthma and from her pituitary adenoma.

In December 1984, Tangires was hired by the Hospital as an Interior Design Coordinator in the Facilities, Design and Construction Department ("the Facilities Department"). Tangires' duties included the planning, design and preparation of interior design projects at the Hospital. Tangires was the only employee at the Hospital employed exclusively as an interior designer. At the commencement of her employment with the Hospital, Tangires notified her employer that she suffered from asthma and other related ailments.

In 1990, all employees in the Facilities Department were reorganized into project teams, and Tangires was assigned to work on a project team headed by Project Manager Bridget Hutchinson ("Hutchinson"). In March 1991, Tangires' position as Interior Design Coordinator was reclassified and renamed "Senior Interior Designer."

From 1985 through 1991, Tangires worked in an office in the Houck Building at the Hospital. In December 1991, Tangires was relocated to a different office within the Houck Building. The purpose of this move was to allow for the placement of members of the new project teams in offices close in proximity to one another. The air flowing into Tangires' new office from the air handling unit (the "air system") was much cooler and forceful than it had been in her previous office. According to Tangires, the temperature and velocity of the air flow in Tangires' new office aggravated her asthma.

During the office move, Hutchinson had been on vacation. Upon her return in January, 1992, Tangires complained to Hutchinson that she and a co-worker found the air system in the new office to be a "hardship" and that it was making them feel "cold" and "sick." However, Tangires did not specifically request that she needed the air system fixed in order to accommodate complications arising as a result of her asthmatic condition. Hutchinson responded to Tangires by telling her that the project team could not switch offices, that a great deal of money had been spent on the move, and that Tangires and her co-workers would just "have to live with [the conditions]." Hutchinson did agree to contact the maintenance department at the Hospital to see if the problem could be fixed. Soon thereafter, Hutchinson contacted Geoff Haley, a maintenance person, with whom she set up a meeting. However, no action was taken to correct the problem. Before Hutchinson's return, Tangires had herself also contacted maintenance personnel about the air system problems. At least two maintenance persons came to Tangires' office, but the air system problem nevertheless still continued unabated.

Tangeris also spoke with Arnie Anderson ("Anderson"), another project manager at the Hospital, and complained to him about the problems with the air system in her office. She told Anderson that the air system made her office feel very cold and was causing her to be sick, but she did not specifically mention to him that the problem worsened her asthmatic condition. In an attempt to correct the problem, Anderson placed a metal rod in the air shaft in Tangires' office to reduce the air flow into the office. However, when Michael Iati ("Iati"), the Design Manager at the Hospital, learned of Anderson's actions, Anderson was instructed by Iati to remove the rod because it could cause problems with the heating, ventilation and cooling system in other areas of the building. During this period, Tangires never expressed to Iati her concerns about the air system. Tangires did discuss her air system problems with Alfred Hanna ("Hanna"), the Employee Relations Supervisor of the Hospital.

Beginning in April 1992, Tangires took a medical leave of absence due to complications arising from her asthma and from other medical conditions, including her pituitary adenoma. Her request for medical leave was submitted in early June 1992 and was formally granted by Iati on June 29, 1992, some two months after her absence from the Hospital began.

Tangires returned to work on September 14, 1992. Upon her return, she was seen by the Hospital's Occupational Health Services Department (the "Occupational Department") and was cleared for return to duty without any needed accommodation. Tangires' lack of need for any accommodation was confirmed by her physician's office and by conversations between personnel of the Occupational Department and Tangires herself. Tangires had a discussion with Fran Humphries of the Occupational Department regarding her concerns about "getting the flu" and "what to do with regards to sick time." However, Tangires did not at this time request any accommodation for her asthma.

In November 1992, Tangires met with Iati to discuss a pay raise, her desire to do interior design work on the Hospital's Cancer Center facility (the "Cancer Center Project"), and the possibility of creating a new position at the Hospital for Tangires, namely as Director of Interior Design. Assigning Tangires to work on the Cancer Center project would not have been a promotion for Tangires because her pay grade, her salary and her job title would not have changed. Iati indicated that he would consider her requests, but he ultimately took no action concerning them.

During this same time period, Tangires also spoke with John Baldwin ("Baldwin"), one of her supervisors, about her desire to work on the Cancer Center Project. Soon thereafter, Tangires discovered that another employee, Susan Klotz, had been assigned to work on the Cancer Center Project.

In December 1992, Tangires and a coworker in the office next to Tangires, Suzi Morris ("Morris"), had a disagreement over the thermostat which controlled the temperature and air velocity in both offices. Morris felt that she needed the thermostat to be at a particular setting in order to prevent the air flowing into her office from blowing forcefully and loudly. However, Tangires took the position that she needed the thermostat to be at a different setting from that desired by Morris in order to maintain the air velocity and temperature in her own office at acceptable levels. In January 1993, Tangires met with Baldwin regarding this disagreement and complained of the effect of the air system on her asthma. Baldwin told her that the situation was not of his concern. Baldwin also gave Tangires a verbal warning regarding her behavior and her reaction to the situation with Morris.

On January 20, 1993, Tangires was hospitalized for a bronchial infection, an asthma attack, a collapsed lung, and for other respiratory-related ailments. The recurrence of Tangires' asthma was triggered when, in late December of 1992, she was exposed to fumes from a broken furnace at the home of her parents. On February 2, 1993, Tangires contacted Peggy Mooney ("Mooney") of the Hospital's Occupational Department and informed her that she had acute asthmatic bronchitis. During this same period, Tangires and Baldwin had a conversation during which Baldwin informed her that, if she was again absent from work for an extended period, he might have to place her on a medical...