Wilson v. Dollar Gen. Corp.

• Decision Date: 17 May 2013
• Docket Number: No. 12–1573.,12–1573.
• Citation: 717 F.3d 337
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
• Parties: Lamont WILSON, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION; Dolgencorp, LLC; Dolgen, LLC, Defendants–Appellees.

717 F.3d 337

Lamont WILSON, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION; Dolgencorp, LLC; Dolgen, LLC, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 12–1573.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: March 22, 2013.

Decided: May 17, 2013.

ARGUED:Terry Neill Grimes, Grimes & Williams, PC, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Douglas D. Haloftis, Gardere, Wynne & Sewell, LLP, Dallas, Texas, for Appellees. ON BRIEF:Stacy R. Obenhaus, Slates C. Veazey, Gardere, Wynne & Sewell, LLP, Dallas, Texas; Agnis C. Chakravorty, Woods Rogers, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellees.

Before NIEMEYER, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge THACKER wrote the opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER and Judge AGEE joined.

OPINION

THACKER, Circuit Judge:

In the present case, Lamont Wilson (“Appellant” or “Wilson”) filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) against his employer, Dollar General Corporation (“Appellee” or “Dollar General”). Wilson alleged Dollar General failed to provide a reasonable accommodation for his disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213 (“ADA”).

While awaiting the EEOC's notice of his right to sue, Appellant Wilson filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. He then filed the present suit in district court, and Dollar General moved for summary judgment. Dollar General argued, unsuccessfully, that the filing of Wilson's Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition deprived Wilson of standing to maintain his ADA claim. Dollar General also argued, and the district court agreed, that Wilson's claim failed on the merits. Wilson appealed the district court's determination that although he had standing to maintain his claim, his claim failed on the merits.

We align ourselves with our sister circuits and conclude that because of the powers vested in the Chapter 13 debtor and trustee, a Chapter 13 debtor may retain standing to bring his pre-bankruptcy petition claims. We also conclude that because Appellant was unable to show he could perform the essential functions of his position with a reasonable accommodation, the district court properly granted summary judgment in Dollar General's favor. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Wilson is a former employee of Dollar General. In his youth, long before his employment with Dollar General, Wilson suffered a detached retina in his right eye, causing complete and permanent blindness in his right eye.

In September 2009, Wilson began working at one of Dollar General's distribution centers, located in South Boston, Virginia. Wilson worked the night shift, processing inventory and loading merchandise for transportation to Dollar General's many retail locations. His responsibilities included sorting smaller products as well as lifting and loading heavier products. By all accounts, Wilson was an excellent employee. He was chosen to serve in an unpaid capacity as Head Employee Safety Representative, acting as a liaison between employees and management on matters of employee safety and working conditions. His work ethic is unchallenged—a testament to his industriousness, perseverance, and good nature, despite his physical limitation.

Unfortunately, within five months of gaining employment with Dollar General, in February 2010, Wilson developed a serious inflammatory condition in his left eye. Threatened with the prospect of losing his vision entirely, Wilson sought immediate treatment at the Dominion Eye Center in Danville, Virginia. Dr. Crews of the Dominion Eye Center diagnosed Wilson with iritis. ¹ Dr. Crews initially prescribed eye drops and advised that Wilson refrain from strenuous activities. As a side effect of the prescription eye drops, Wilson's vision became blurred, further limiting his abilities.

With the onset of his medical condition in February 2010, Wilson took leave from his position with Dollar General. During his leave, Wilson continued to receive treatment from doctors at the Dominion Eye Center, including his primary physician, Dr. Odom. Wilson also continuously provided Dollar General with notes from Drs. Odom and Crews dated February 12, February 14, February 15, February 19, February 26, and March 5, indicating he was still receiving treatment and was unable to return to work. Dollar General initially granted Wilson six weeks of leave pursuant to its medical leave policy, followed by two weeks of additional medical leave.² At the conclusion of Wilson's treatment, Wilson again received eye drops and Dr. Odom cleared Wilson to “return to work as of today 4–6–10.” J.A. 313.³ Dr. Odom's April 6 note did not indicate whether Wilson's return should have been subject to any restrictions.

The night of April 6, 2010, however, Wilson's vision did not fully return and instead remained blurred. That night, Wilson called Dollar General's human resource officer Niki Stinespring to inform Dollar General of his condition. Wilson explained to Stinespring that although earlier in the afternoon he had been cleared to return to work by his doctor, he was still having significant problems with his vision that prevented his return to work that night. Dollar General then granted Wilson an additional day of leave and permitted him to return to work on April 7.

Wilson's condition worsened, and on April 7, he sought treatment from Dr. Hoang at the emergency room of the Danville Regional Medical Center. Dr. Hoang treated Wilson with additional eye drops and prescription pain medication, but Wilson's vision problems did not subside.

Immediately after receiving treatment at Danville Regional Medical Center on April 7, Wilson traveled to Dollar General's facility. Wilson informed Stinespring that he would be unable to return to work that evening as he had previously indicated. Wilson provided Stinespring with Dr. Hoang's Patient Discharge Instructions note, which read: “This notice verifies that your employee, Lamont Wilson was seen in this facility on _040710_[.] He/she may return to work on _040910_....” J.A. 218. Dr. Hoang's note left blank a section identifying whether or not Wilson's return to work was subject to any restrictions. The note concluded with the following boilerplate instruction: “If symptoms continue and the employee is unable to perform the full duties of their job by this date, please advise the employee to return to this facility or make an appointment with the referral physician for further evaluation.” Id. Wilson also informed Stinespring that he had additional upcoming medical appointments with the Duke Medical Center to help treat his condition.

According to Wilson, Stinespring responded by offering him an ultimatum: return to work that evening on April 7 as he previously indicated he would; or be terminated and reapply after his condition improved. Wilson then admitted that he was unable to return to work that evening. At this point, it became clear to Wilson that he had been terminated.⁴

Following his termination, Wilson's vision did not immediately improve. Wilson testified that he was unable to “specifically give you a date” as to when he would have been able to return to work at Dollar General. J.A. 144. He did, however, begin making other job contacts, as a condition to receive state unemployment benefits, approximately “a week [or a] week and a half later,” after his termination on April 7. Id.

Shortly after his termination, Wilson contacted the EEOC and inquired about his options for legal recourse. On June 10, 2010, Wilson filed a charge of discrimination. Later that month, on June 27, Wilson filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the Western District of Virginia.

During the course of his bankruptcy proceeding, Wilson filed an amended Schedule B with the bankruptcy court, identifying his personal property. The schedule included as Wilson's personal property, a “Potential Claim against Dollar General related to termination of Debtor's employment, value, if any unknown.” Amended Schedule B—Pers. Prop., In re Wilson, No. 10–61863 (Bankr.W.D.Va. Oct. 19, 2010), ECF No. 31. On November 10, 2010, Wilson's Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan was confirmed.⁵

Around the same time, Wilson suffered a second medical setback; he was diagnosed with a detached retina in his left eye that required surgery. On November 22, 2010, Wilson underwent surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center to repair his detached retina. The surgery left Wilson blind for seven weeks, and required months of rest and recovery thereafter. Eventually, Wilson's vision returned, he recovered from the surgery, and in March 2011 he began looking for employment.

On March 31, 2011, the EEOC issued Wilson a notice of his right to sue Dollar General. On June 15, 2011, Wilson filed the suit underlying this appeal in the Western District of Virginia. Wilson alleged Dollar General had unlawfully discriminated against him by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation for his disability, resulting in his discharge, in violation of the ADA.

On February 7, 2012, Dollar General moved in district court for summary judgment on Wilson's ADA claim. Dollar General argued Wilson, as a Chapter 13 debtor, lacked standing to maintain his pre-petition claim and, therefore, the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear Wilson's claim. Dollar General also argued Wilson failed to establish genuine issues of material fact as to his underlying ADA claim. On March 5, 2012, the district court by memorandum opinion, denied Dollar General's motion with respect to standing. The district court granted summaryjudgment, however, in Dollar General's favor as to the underlying ADA claim. Wilson filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied on April 5, 2012. Wilson then timely filed this appeal.

II.

As the district court's grant of summary judgment was a final order disposing of Wilson's claims, we possess jurisdiction over his appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

We review de...