Wilson v. Textron Aviation Inc.
| Decision Date | 11 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 17-1287-EFM |
| Parties | AL F. WILSON, Plaintiff, v. TEXTRON AVIATION INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
Plaintiff Al F. Wilson alleges that Textron discriminated and retaliated against him based on his race and disability. Before the Court is Defendant Textron Aviation Inc.'s ("Textron") Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 33). For the reasons below, the Court grants the motion.
One of Textron's predecessor companies hired Wilson on November 13, 1997, as a sheet metal assembler. From January 5, 2009, to May 21, 2012, Wilson was a final line assembler for another of Textron's predecessor companies. From May 21, 2012, to May 9, 2015, Wilson was asheet metal assembler at Textron, during which time Todd Meadows was his direct supervisor. Throughout the course of his employment at Textron and its predecessors, Wilson has only held the positions of sheet metal assembler and final line assembler. Since 2014, Textron no longer has the position of final line assembler, although it does have a similar position titled "assembly installer."
Throughout his employment with Textron, Wilson has been a member of a Union and is governed by its Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA"). Under the CBA, Wilson is entitled to a medical leave of absence of up to 12 months, during which he can receive medical and other benefits. If an employee seeks a transfer to another position (whether or not that employee is on leave), a transfer request is not granted unless (i) there are no laid off employees in the job classification involved who have recall rights, and (ii) there are no other transfer requests submitted by employees in the applicable employee subdivision with greater seniority rights who are currently or were previously in the job classification involved. Under the CBA, Textron can only consider transferring employees to positions which they have previously held. Because of these CBA seniority provisions, the only positions Textron could have considered transferring Wilson to in 2014, 2015, and 2016 were sheet metal assembler or assembly installer, since those were the only positions Wilson ever held.
The position of sheet metal assembler includes the following tasks: cleaning parts and work areas; assembling, sealing, drilling, sanding, and painting sheet metal; installing fasteners; bucking rivets; countersinking; using hand and power tools, and fitting jigs. All those tasks require frequent forceful handling, grasping, gripping, and hand manipulation. The similar position of assembly installer requires less frequent forceful gripping but more constant handling, grasping, and hand manipulation.
Beginning in 2003, Wilson had problems with his hands, eventually resulting in surgery to correct carpal tunnel syndrome and subjecting him to permanent restrictions in his job duties. To meet these permanent restrictions, Textron rotated Wilson between tasks within his position. These task rotations effectively accommodated Wilson's disability for a time. However, beginning in the first quarter of 2014, Wilson complained about pain in his hands, wrists, and right shoulder. To address this pain, he began regularly visiting Textron's Health Services Department and a company doctor. In at least six separate instances from October 2014 to March 2015, Textron evaluated Wilson's medical issues and considered possible accommodations.
First, on October 24, 2014, representatives from Textron's Ergonomics and Environmental, Health, and Safety Departments evaluated Wilson's job duties to identify the risks of his position. Second, on November 10, 2014, representatives from Textron's Health Services and Ergonomics Departments, as well as Wilson's supervisor, Todd Meadows, conducted a job site visit to review the different tasks required in Wilson's position. During this visit, Textron's representatives gave Wilson a chance to describe what his job entailed. Textron's representatives informed Wilson that he could request a job transfer if he thought he was physically incapable of performing his current job.
Textron conducted a third evaluation on January 12, 2015, where Wilson completed a Functional Capacity Exam ("FCE") that identified permanent restrictions preventing him from reaching above his shoulders and limiting him to only occasional forceful grasping, fine hand manipulation, and simple grasping. These permanent restrictions were more severe than Wilson's prior restrictions from 2003. Members of Textron's Representatives met in February 2015 tofollow up on Wilson's FCE and new permanent restrictions. They agreed to conduct more job site visits to determine if his current position complied with his updated permanent restrictions.
Textron conducted a fourth evaluation on February 5, 2015, where its representatives, Meadows, a union steward, and the plant chair visited Wilson's job site to review the tasks required to work on the outboard composite doors and the inboard aluminum doors. Textron followed up with its fifth and sixth evaluations on February 9 and 11, 2015. During these visits, Textron's representatives evaluated Wilson's work on the speed-brake and left-hand inboard door.
After the six aforementioned evaluations and job-site visits, Textron's representative met on February 25, 2015, to evaluate Wilson's situation and permanent restriction, and consider potential accommodations. They determined that no reasonable accommodations could satisfy Wilson's heightened restrictions.
On March 2, 2015, Textron's representatives evaluated transferring Wilson to the only other available sheet metal assembler positions, ultimately determining that those positions also failed to comply with Wilson's restrictions. Textron therefore concluded that a job transfer was not a possible accommodation. On March 5, 2015, Textron's representatives evaluated Wilson's prior position on the upper-forward and center cowling assembly and determined that position was also not a match for his restrictions.
By early March 2015, Textron concluded that: (i) Wilson's existing position as sheet metal assembler did not comply with his permanent restrictions and that the only way Wilson could perform the essential functions of his existing position was to exceed his permanent restrictions; (ii) the work environment, manner, and circumstances in which Wilson's existing position was performed, and tasks required in it, could not be modified to allow him to perform the essential functions of that position while still complying with his permanent restrictions; (iii) there were noother sheet metal assembler or assembly installer positions at Textron that were open and which complied with Wilson's existing permanent restrictions; and (iv) no sheet metal assembler or assembly installer positions at Textron would, even with reasonable accommodations, comply with Wilson's permanent restrictions.
Under Wilson's prior permanent restrictions from 2003, Textron was able to reasonably accommodate his disabilities through task rotation. However, Wilson's 2015 FCE established permanent restrictions that were more severe than before. After it completed its evaluation process, Textron concluded that task or job rotations would not comply with Wilson's permanent restrictions. In addition, Wilson's CBA limited Textron to transferring Wilson only to positions which he previously held. To comply with the CBA, Textron could only consider Wilson for the sheet metal assembler or assembly installer positions, since those are the only positions he ever held. Textron concluded that neither of these positions, with or without reasonable accommodations, would comply with Wilson's permanent restrictions. As a result, Textron determined that a medical leave of absence was the only reasonable accommodation for Wilson's permanent restrictions.
On March 9, 2015, Textron's representatives met with Wilson to review his permanent work restrictions and Textron's evaluation process. Textron advised Wilson that it could not accommodate his restrictions in his current position. Textron asked Wilson for his input on potential accommodations for his current position and he suggested that he should be transferred to his old position with the upper center and forward cowling assembly—which would also not comply with his FCE restrictions—or be put in charge of "the whole shop."
Following that meeting, Textron placed Wilson on a medical leave of absence. This decision was made collectively by individuals in Textron's Health Services, Human Resources,and Labor Relations Departments, as well as Meadows. While on his medical leave of absence, Wilson did not advise Textron that his permanent restrictions had changed. No other positions became available during that period that complied with Wilson's permanent restrictions or CBA provisions. On March 14, 2016, Textron sent Wilson a letter informing him that he was two weeks away from the one-year anniversary of his medical leave of absence. Textron also inquired whether his medical condition had changed, in which case Textron would reengage in the interactive process to evaluate reasonable accommodations.
On April 22, 2016, Textron sent Wilson a follow-up letter requesting that Wilson sign and return a medical records release so that Textron could review his recent medical records and evaluate whether he could return to work. After Wilson provided his signed release, Textron had Wilson take a physical ability test to determine whether there had been a change in his permanent restrictions. In May 2016, Wilson took the test which identified no restrictions preventing him from returning to work. Wilson returned to work at Textron on May 23, 2016, in the position of sheet metal assembler.
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