Thornton v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 November 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-2162.,08-2162.
• Citation: 587 F.3d 27
• Parties: Charles THORNTON, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC., Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

587 F.3d 27

Charles THORNTON, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC., Defendant, Appellee.

No. 08-2162.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard September 11, 2009.

Decided November 12, 2009.

Michael Tumposky, with whom Stephen B. Hrones was on brief, for Appellant.

Elizabeth A. Kowal, with whom Susan J. Baronoff was on brief, for Appellee.

Before BOUDIN, GAJARSA,^* and LIPEZ, Circuit Judges.

GAJARSA, Circuit Judge.

Charles Thornton appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts that was entered upon the court's grant of summary judgment to United Parcel Service ("UPS") on Mr. Thornton's disability discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). Because we agree with the district court that the allegations encompassed by Mr. Thornton's August 2001 charge filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") do not support the ADA claims he presents here, we affirm.

I.

UPS employs a large number of tractor trailer drivers to drive established routes between UPS's regional facilities. Routes differ and are distinguished from each other in a variety of meaningful ways. Some routes involve hauling single trailers; others involve doubles — two trailers hitched together. Some routes require driving distances less than one hundred fifty miles; some require driving substantially greater distances. As a result, drivers of different routes are paid differently. Pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with the employees' union, UPS permits its drivers to select the routes they will drive on the basis of seniority using a bidding system.

Mr. Thornton was employed as a driver for UPS from 1968 until he was no longer able to drive in 2002. In the later years of his career, Mr. Thornton suffered from various back, shoulder and arm ailments, which required him to restrict his work. At all relevant times, Mr. Thornton selected the routes he drove pursuant to the bidding process described above.

In early 2001, Mr. Thornton suffered a back spasm while driving his selected route to Buffalo, New York. On August 30, 2001, he filed a claim with the MCAD (hereinafter, the "2001 MCAD charge"),² alleging as follows:

I have been employed with United Parcel Service for approximately thirty-three years. I suffer from chronic lower back pain. After being on light duty (driving only), I went for a check-up exam and received a review from the doctor saying that my light duty was still active. UPS interpreted the note (attached) as saying that I can do anything except lifting heavy things. They began to give me more duties as a result of this. On 03/05/01, I was sent to Buffalo on a duty. While in Buffalo, because of the extensive driving, I needed to seek medical attention immediately. I believe that I was discriminated against because my disability restrictions were misinterpreted [sic] and I was doing jobs that I was not physically able to do.

Mr. Thornton attached to his MCAD complaint a note from Dr. Richard B. Hawkins, dated January 20, 2001, which recommended the following:

In terms of work restrictions, it appears that he has been given permanent work restrictions of no heavy lifting, such as loading and unloading of trucks. These restrictions should stay in position, as they have been effective in allowing him to continue to work on a regular basis. The restrictions do not affect his ability to work full time, including overtime.

The MCAD ultimately dismissed Mr. Thornton's complaint, concluding:

[H]e has not demonstrated that in honoring [his] route selection, [UPS] subjected him to an adverse employment action. [Mr. Thornton] selected the route himself. Not only did [UPS] leave the choice of route up to [Mr. Thornton], [UPS] confirmed that [he] was comfortable with the physical demands imposed by the route.

Memorandum to File re: Recommendation for Lack of Probable Cause, Thornton v. UPS, MCAD No. 01132418. Subsequently, as authorized by statute, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") provided Mr. Thornton with a right-to-sue letter on the basis of the MCAD's dismissal of his charge. Mr. Thornton filed the present legal action.

In his original district court complaint, Mr. Thornton asserted violations of the ADA and Massachusetts state law, based on UPS's alleged failures to provide him with reasonable accommodations on several occasions. See Complaint at 9 ¶¶ 57-58, Thornton v. United Parcel Serv. Inc., No. 05-cv-10210, 2005 WL 691880 (D.Mass. Feb. 1, 2005). In one such instance, he asserted that UPS had failed to provide him with a reasonable accommodation in relation to his selection of the Buffalo, New York route, per his 2001 MCAD charge. Subsequently, Mr. Thornton amended his original complaint to further allege that UPS had engaged in per se disability discrimination by adhering to an unwritten "100% medical release" policy. Amended Complaint at 9 ¶¶ 52-53, Thornton v. United Parcel Serv. Inc., No. 05-cv-10210, 2006 WL 1033252 (D.Mass. Feb. 10, 2006). Under that alleged discrimination policy, employees with medical restrictions are forced to remain on unpaid leave unless they certify that they are completely recovered and one hundred percent healthy.

On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court held that the ADA requires the exhaustion of all administrative remedies and that such requirement prevents Mr. Thornton from pursuing claims that fall outside the scope of his 2001 MCAD charge; and because of such a limitation, Mr. Thornton's allegations could not support a violation of the ADA. Premised upon these holdings, it granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of UPS. Moreover, in the absence of any remaining federal law claims, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Mr. Thornton's state law claims, dismissing them without prejudice. Upon the entry of final judgment, Mr. Thornton timely appealed to this court.

The district court had jurisdiction over Mr. Thornton's federal ADA claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. We have jurisdiction over Mr. Thornton's appeal of the district court's final judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II.

On appeal, Mr. Thornton raises two issues: (1) whether the district court correctly determined that the allegations of discrimination encompassed by his 2001 MCAD charge place a limitation on the claims he can present now; and (2) whether the district court correctly determined that, assuming the 2001 MCAD complaint was properly limited, his remaining allegations do not support his claims of violation of the ADA.

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See Dennis v. Osram Sylvania, Inc., 549 F.3d 851, 855 (1st Cir.2008). Summary judgment is properly granted where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

A. Administrative Claim Exhaustion

As an initial matter, it is well-settled that an employee alleging discrimination must file an administrative claim with the EEOC or with a parallel state agency before a civil action may be brought. See Bonilla v. Muebles J.J. Alvarez, Inc., 194 F.3d 275, 277 (1st Cir.1999) ("We hold that the ADA mandates compliance with the administrative procedures specified under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, and that, absent special circumstances ... such compliance must occur before a federal court may entertain a suit that seeks recovery for an alleged violation of Title I of the ADA."); see also Jorge v. Rumsfeld, 404 F.3d 556, 564 (1st Cir.2005) ("The employee may commence a civil action against [his] employer if, and only if, the EEOC has dismissed the administrative complaint or has itself failed to begin a civil action within 180 days of the original EEOC filing.... [A] plaintiff's unexcused failure to exhaust administrative remedies effectively bars the courthouse door."). When filed with a state agency, the administrative claim must be filed within 300 days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1); see also Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 109, 122 S.Ct. 2061, 153 L.Ed.2d 106 (2002).

The submission of an administrative claim serves several purposes. Most importantly, it gives notice to both the employer and the agency of an alleged violation and affords an opportunity to swiftly and informally take any corrective action necessary to reconcile the violation. See Powers v. Grinnell Corp., 915 F.2d 34, 37 (1st Cir.1990) ("The administrative charge provides the agencies with information and an opportunity to eliminate the alleged unlawful practices through informal methods of conciliation, and affords formal notice to the employer and prospective defendant of the charges that have been made against it.") (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). "The scope of the civil complaint is accordingly limited by the charge filed with the EEOC and the investigation which can reasonably be expected to grow out of that charge." Id. at 38.

Here, Mr. Thornton failed to file charges with the MCAD or EEOC relating to any alleged continuing acts of disability discrimination that post-date his 2001 charge. Instead, Mr. Thornton invokes the "scope of the investigation rule" to assert that his suit may extend to claims that reasonably would have been uncovered during the MCAD investigation of, or have been collaterally related to, his 2001 MCAD charge. Mr. Thornton is seeking to apply this rule far too broadly.

As this court has explained, "the scope of a civil action is not determined by the specific language of the charge filed with the agency, but rather, may encompass acts of discrimination which the MCAD investigation could reasonably be ...