Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-15-20127/USCOURTS-ca5-15-20127-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Michael A. Cannon
Appellant
Jacobs Field Services North America, Incorporated
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-20127

MICHAEL A. CANNON, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

JACOBS FIELD SERVICES NORTH AMERICA, INCORPORATED,

 Defendant - Appellee

Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Southern District of Texas

Before JOLLY, HAYNES, and COSTA, Circuit Judges.

GREGG COSTA, Circuit Judge:

Jacobs Field Services (JFS), a construction company, offered Michael 

Cannon a job as a field engineer at a Colorado mining site. But it quickly 

revoked the offer after learning that Cannon had a rotator cuff impairment 

that prevented him from lifting his right arm above the shoulder. Cannon 

brought suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The district 

court granted summary judgment, finding that Cannon could not prove that 

he was disabled or a qualified individual. Because the first finding ignored 

Congress’s expansion of the definition of disability when it amended the ADA 

in 2008 and a factual dispute exists on the second, we reverse.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

January 13, 2016

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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I.

Cannon is a mechanical engineer with over twenty years of experience.1 

In 2010, he had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. The 

surgery was unsuccessful. As a result, Cannon can no longer raise his right 

arm above shoulder level, and is limited in his ability to push or pull with his 

right arm. 

In 2011, Cannon applied for a job as a field engineer with JFS. JFS 

offered him the job. Cannon underwent a pre-employment physical. During 

the exam, Cannon told the doctor about his inoperable rotator cuff injury and 

that he had previously taken the prescription pain reliever Ultram, which is 

the brand name version of the opioid Tramadol. Cannon explained that 

although he still had a prescription for Tramadol, he was no longer taking it. 

Cannon passed the drug test administered as part of the physical. The doctor

cleared Cannon for the position so long as JFS offered the following

accommodations for the rotator cuff injury: no driving company vehicles; no 

lifting, pushing, or pulling more than ten pounds; and no working with his 

hands above shoulder level. 

JFS did not agree to the proposed accommodations. Instead, on July 18, 

the same day it received the “Medical Clearance” form with the list of 

accommodations, it determined that Cannon was physically incapable of 

performing the job. Although there is conflicting evidence about who made the 

decision to rescind the offer, the turning point occurred when human resources 

notified the technical services manager at the Colorado job site about the

doctor’s proposed accommodations and sought approval to proceed with 

Cannon’s hiring. In response, the technical services manager stated that 

 

1 Given the summary judgment posture, this section construes the evidence in the 

light most favorable to Cannon.

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Cannon would “not be able to meet the project needs and required job duties” 

and explained that the job required an employee “capable of driving, climbing, 

lifting, and walking” as the job site was located “in the mountains with 

rough/rocky terrain” and “spread over several miles.” 

A human resources representative contacted Cannon around this time. 

Not mentioning the seemingly unequivocal position taken by the manager that 

Cannon could not do the job, the HR representative informed Cannon only that 

JFS had concerns that he could not reach above his head with his right arm.

Cannon asked whether he could contact someone to resolve the concerns and 

was told to call the Occupational Health Department. Cannon promptly did so 

and was told that JFS needed him to clarify whether (1) he could climb a ladder 

and (2) was still taking Ultram. Again, there was no indication that the job 

offer had been rescinded, and Cannon took the requests for additional 

information to mean that satisfactory responses would eliminate the concerns. 

Cannon provided the requested information, submitting documentation from 

his doctor stating that he was “specifically cleared for climbing vertical ladders 

and maintaining 3-point contact with either arm”2 and was being weaned from 

Ultram.

No one from JFS followed up with Cannon to discuss the doctor’s notes 

he had submitted. Instead, during a call on July 20, the same day Cannon 

submitted the clearance forms from his doctor, JFS informed Cannon that it 

was rescinding the offer based on his inability to climb a ladder. Cannon 

continued to try to prove to JFS that he was capable of climbing a ladder in an 

effort to have his offer reinstated—sending a video of himself climbing a ladder 

while maintaining 3-point contact. JFS did not respond. Cannon made 

 

2 Climbing a ladder using 3-point contact is an “OSHA-driven requirement” which is 

designed to prevent injury from “slipping, falling down, hitting the ground” because if a 

climber’s feet slip, he can still catch himself with his hands, which should be on the ladder. 

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additional attempts to try to contact JFS and discuss his injury and 

limitations. These efforts were unsuccessful. 

Cannon filed a complaint with the EEOC. The EEOC concluded that 

JFS engaged in disability discrimination because: (1) JFS failed to engage in 

the interactive process with Cannon; (2) providing Cannon with the requested 

accommodations would not have imposed an undue hardship on JFS; and (3) 

JFS did not demonstrate that Cannon would have posed a “direct threat to 

himself or to his coworkers” as a field engineer. JFS refused to engage in the 

EEOC-directed conciliation process, so the EEOC issued a Notice of Right to 

Sue. Cannon filed this lawsuit. 

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of JFS. It found 

that Cannon’s rotator cuff injury did not render him disabled under the ADA, 

and, even if he were disabled, he was not qualified for the field engineer 

position. The district court did not specifically address a failure-toaccommodate claim that the parties had briefed.

II.

This Court reviews de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment, 

viewing “all facts and evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving 

party.” EEOC v. LHC Grp., Inc., 773 F.3d 688, 694 (5th Cir. 2014). Summary 

judgment is only appropriate if the movant has shown that there is no genuine 

issue as to any material fact such that the movant is entitled to judgment as a 

matter of law. Id. (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)). 

III. 

The ADA prohibits discrimination against on the basis of a disability. 

Griffin v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 661 F.3d 216, 221–22 (5th Cir. 2011). As 

with other antidiscrimination statutes in the employment context, a plaintiff 

trying to show a violation of the ADA using circumstantial evidence must 

satisfy the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework. E.E.O.C. v. 

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Chevron Phillips Chem. Co., LP, 570 F.3d 606, 615 (5th Cir. 2009). To make 

out his prima facie showing under that framework, Cannon must show that:

(1) the plaintiff has a disability, or was regarded as disabled; (2) he was 

qualified for the job; and (3) he was subject to an adverse employment decision 

on account of his disability. EEOC v. LHC Grp., Inc., 773 F.3d 688, 697 (5th 

Cir. 2014). If he makes that showing, a presumption of discrimination arises, 

and the employer must “articulate a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for 

the adverse employment action.” Chevron Phillips Chem. Co., LP, 570 F.3d at 

615. The burden then shifts to the plaintiff to produce evidence from which a 

jury could conclude that the employer’s articulated reason is pretextual. See 

id. 

A.

Under the ADA, an individual suffers from a “disability,” if that 

individual has “a physical . . . impairment that substantially limits one or 

more major life activities.” 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1). The district court concluded 

that Cannon was not disabled because his “injured shoulder did not 

substantially impair[] his daily functioning.” Whatever merit that finding of 

no disability may have had under the original ADA, it is at odds with changes 

brought about by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. Pub. L. No. 110-325, 122 

Stat. 3553 (2008). Those amendments “make it easier for people with 

disabilities to obtain protection under the ADA.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630.1(c)(4). A 

principal way in which Congress accomplished that goal was to broaden the 

definition of “disability.” Id. Two features of that expanded concept of 

disability support a finding of disability in this case.

The first aspect of the 2008 Act that helps establish Cannon’s injury as

a disability is its clarification that the Supreme Court and EEOC had 

interpreted the “substantially limits” standard to be a more demanding one 

than Congress had intended. 42 U.S.C. § 12101 note (ADA Amendments Act 

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of 2008) (expressly disapproving of prior Supreme Court decisions and EEOC 

interpretations of the “substantially limits” standard); Neely v. PSEG Tex., Ltd 

P’ship, 735 F.3d 242, 245 (5th Cir. 2013) (stating that the ADAAA was passed 

to correct the perceived misconception that the “substantially limits” standard 

is a demanding inquiry). The 2008 Act thus provides “Rules of Construction

Regarding the Definition of Disability,” which focus on construing the 

“substantially limits” standard “in favor of broad coverage.” 42 U.S.C. § 

12102(4). EEOC regulations implementing the 2008 Amendments follow this 

command in concluding that “the threshold issue of whether an impairment 

‘substantially limits’ a major life activity should not demand extensive 

analysis,” and the term “shall be interpreted and applied to require a degree of 

functional limitation that is lower than the standard for ‘substantially limits’ 

applied” previously. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(1)(iii)–(iv). The inquiry in this postamendment case is thus whether Cannon’s impairment substantially limits his 

ability “to perform a major life activity as compared to most people in the 

general population.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(1)(ii).

There is ample evidence to support a conclusion that Cannon’s injury 

qualifies as a disability under the more relaxed standard. Although the district 

court concluded otherwise, the ADA includes “lifting” in its list of major life 

activities. See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A) (stating that “major life activities 

include, but are not limited to . . . lifting, bending, speaking, [etc.]”); see also 29 

C.F.R. § 1630.2(i) (also including “reaching” as a major life activity). Given 

that lifting and reaching are “major life activities,” Cannon’s shoulder injury 

is a qualifying disability if it “substantially limits” his ability to perform such 

tasks. There is certainly evidence to that effect. Cannon and his doctor both 

stated that he is unable to lift his right arm above shoulder level and that he 

has considerable difficulty lifting, pushing, or pulling objects with his right 

arm. This does not even appear to be disputed; the limitations posed by 

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Cannon’s shoulder injury are what led JFS to rescind the offer.3 Less than two 

hours after receiving the report of Cannon’s physical, the technical operations 

officer at the mining project wrote that the job offer should be rescinded

because a field engineer must be “capable of driving, climbing, lifting and 

walking” and “[b]ased on the list of required accommodations Mr. Cannon will 

not be able to meet the project needs and required job duties.” 

JFS’s belief that Cannon’s injury resulted in substantial impairment—

even if that view were mistaken—is the second reason why the 2008 

amendments support a finding that Cannon was disabled. The ADA now 

covers not just someone who is disabled but also those subjected to 

discrimination because they are “regarded as having . . . an actual or perceived 

physical or mental impairment whether or not the impairment limits or is 

perceived to limit a major life activity.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 12102(1)(C), 3(A)

(emphasis added). The amended “regarded as” provision reflects the view that 

“unfounded concerns, mistaken beliefs, fears, myths, or prejudice about 

disabilities are just as disabling as actual impairments.” 29 C.F.R. § Pt. 1630, 

App. § 1630.2(1) (quoting 2008 Senate Statement of Managers at 9; 2008 House 

Judiciary Committee Report at 17). It overrules “prior authority ‘requiring a 

plaintiff to show that the employer regarded him or her as being substantially 

limited in a major life activity.’” Burton v. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., 798 

 

3 The district court relied in large part on Cannon’s own statements in finding that 

there was no evidence that his shoulder substantially impaired his daily functioning. 

Specifically, the court pointed to Cannon’s statements that he was able to climb a ladder and 

“need[ed] no accommodation” to perform the tasks required of a field engineer. But these 

statements do not undermine the evidence indicating that his injury substantially limits his 

ability to lift, which is all that is required to establish a disability. Indeed, Cannon explained

that he did not need an accommodation only because he compensates for his right arm’s 

limitations through greater use of his left arm—“my reasonable accommodation is what God 

already gave me. . . . I have a working left shoulder to take over what my right shoulder can’t 

do.” The medical clearance form from his doctor also emphasized that Cannon will have to 

compensate for his inability to use his right arm by relying more heavily on his left arm. 

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F.3d 222, 230 (5th Cir. 2015) (quoting Dube v. Texas Health & Human Servs. 

Comm’n, Case No. SA–11–CV–354–XR, 2012 WL 2397566, at *3 (W.D.Tex. 

June 25, 2012)). The evidence favoring Cannon again easily passes muster 

under the revised standard requiring only the perception that he suffered from 

a physical impairment.4 The email from the technical services manager cited 

above, as well as other evidence such as the report from Cannon’s physical, 

support a finding that officials at JFS perceived his shoulder injury to be an 

impairment. See id. at 231 (holding that employer regarded the plaintiff as 

disabled when the supporting documentation for plaintiff’s termination 

specifically tied “complaints about [plaintiff’s] conduct to her asserted medical 

needs”). 

We thus conclude that evidence exists supporting a finding either that 

Cannon is disabled or was regarded as disabled.

B.

That brings us the closer question of whether, despite Cannon’s

impairments, he was still qualified for the field engineer position. To be a 

qualified employee, Cannon must be able to show that he could either (1) 

“perform the essential functions of the job in spite of [his] disability,” or (2) that 

“a reasonable accommodation of [his] disability would have enabled [him] to 

perform the essential functions of his job.” EEOC v. LHC Grp., Inc., 773 F.3d 

688, 697 (5th Cir. 2014) (internal quotations omitted); see also 42 U.S.C. 

§ 12111(8). A function is “essential” if it bears “more than a marginal 

relationship” to the employee’s job. Chandler v. City of Dall., 2 F.3d 1385, 1393 

(5th Cir. 1993), holding modified on other grounds as discussed in Kapche v. 

 

4 The district court applied the prior standard in rejecting the possibility that Cannon 

was “regarded as disabled” because “[c]limbing a ladder is not a major-life activity.” The 

district court also focused only on Jacobs’s concerns with whether Cannon could climb a 

ladder; but the email expresses doubt about whether Cannon can perform multiple activities. 

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City of San Antonio, 304 F.3d 493 (5th Cir. 2002). JFS contends that driving

a company vehicle and climbing a ladder are essential functions of the field 

engineer position and argues that Cannon cannot do either because of his 

prescription for painkillers and his rotator cuff injury.

We first address driving, which the district court held was essential 

because of the vastness of the worksite and a function that Cannon could not 

perform because of his Ultram prescription. Assuming that driving is an 

essential function of the field engineer position, a conclusion that Cannon 

disputes, there is sufficient evidence from which a jury could conclude that 

Cannon was able to perform that duty. JFS cites an unwritten, though quite

sensible, policy that “employees who are taking narcotics are not permitted to 

operate company vehicles.” But there is a dispute about whether Cannon was 

still taking the medication or, at the least, could have stopped taking it once 

he started working. The painkiller was prescribed “as needed.” Cannon 

asserts he stopped taking the medication prior to applying and informed JFS

of that prior to being told that his offer had been revoked. On his preemployment drug test, Cannon did not test positive for any of the substances 

JFS tries to detect.5 And Cannon’s doctor informed JFS that Cannon was 

“being weaned” off Ultram. Although in some tension with Cannon’s statement 

that he had already stopped using, the doctor’s statement provides further 

support for the conclusion that Cannon could have performed the job without 

using the painkiller. To be sure, JFS can point to evidence that counters this 

 

5 The district court assumed that the drug test would have detected Ultram, 

explaining the negative test away on the ground that it “merely shows that he had not taken 

it at the time.” JFS argues that this is not the case, and that the drug test only looks for 

illegal narcotics banned under its separate, written policy prohibiting use of those 

substances. Of course, if that is the case, failure to test for prescription painkillers may cast 

doubt on whether JFS maintains a separate unwritten policy. In any event, even discounting 

the drug test, the other evidence cited above is sufficient to create a fact issue about whether 

Cannon could have performed the job without using Ultram.

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view, most notably Cannon’s extensive history of Ultram use which continued

after JFS rescinded the job offer. In the end, however, the evidence creates a 

dispute that a jury should decide about whether Cannon could have avoided 

taking the medication while working for JFS. 

The same is true for the federal mining regulation that JFS relied on in 

its summary judgment motion, though the regulation was not 

contemporaneously cited as a reason for rescinding Cannon’s offer. See 30 

C.F.R. § 57.20001 (“Intoxicating beverages and narcotics shall not be permitted 

or used in or around mines. Persons under the influence of alcohol or narcotics 

shall not be permitted on the job.”). Putting aside unresolved questions about 

the scope of the rule (what proximity to a mine satisfies the “around mines” 

standard given that Cannon was not going to be working in the mine), it only 

applies to those “under the influence” of narcotics and not just those with a 

prescription who may no longer be using. It is also not clear from the record 

how long Ultram would remain in Cannon’s system even if he used it after 

working hours. For comparison’s sake, just as the regulation sensibly bars 

persons “under the influence of alcohol” from a mine, it does not bar those who 

have ever consumed alcohol or who do so at home the night before a shift. 

The next essential function that JFS found disqualifying is climbing a 

ladder. This time Cannon agrees that the field engineer job requires the 

ability to climb a ladder. The job site includes steep pipeline trenches and 

“pipe racks” that require ladders. But there is conflicting evidence about

whether Cannon can climb the ladder with reasonable accommodation. 

Cannon’s doctor submitted a medical release to JFS stating that Cannon 

“specifically is cleared for climbing vertical ladders and maintaining 3-point 

contact with either arm” despite the shoulder injury. And after learning that

JFS rescinded his job offer based on its belief that the shoulder injury would 

prevent him from climbing a ladder, Cannon submitted a video of himself

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climbing a ladder while maintaining 3-point contact. Cannon conceded at his 

deposition, however, that in the video he raised his injured arm above his 

shoulder in violation of his doctor’s orders. See Alexander v. Northland Inn, 

321 F.3d 723, 727 (8th Cir. 2003) (“The ADA does not require an employer to 

permit an employee to perform a job function that the employee’s physician 

has forbidden.”). 

In light of the doctor’s note and video, we are unable to conclude that 

there is no evidence supporting the view that Cannon can limb a ladder despite 

his impairment. The parties may have been able to get to the bottom of the 

“ladder climbing” question if JFS had conducted a more thorough inquiry after 

learning about Cannon’s injury. For example, it could have questioned Cannon 

or his doctor at the time or asked Cannon to demonstrate an ability to climb a 

ladder. Given the speed at which JFS rescinded Cannon’s offer, the record is 

thin. Because there is some evidence that supports a finding that Cannon 

could perform this function, summary judgment is not appropriate on this 

basis. 

C.

That leaves pretext as the remaining basis on which the district court 

ruled in JFS’s favor. Summary judgment rulings in employment 

discrimination cases based on circumstantial evidence often boil down to 

difficult assessments of pretext. Not so in this ADA case. The district court’s 

finding of no pretext flowed logically from its conclusions that Cannon was not 

disabled and not qualified: “There can be no pretext when the facts show that 

Cannon was disqualified for the job and not disabled.” Our contrary view that 

the evidence does not compel those findings also easily resolves the remaining 

McDonnell-Douglas inquiries.

Perhaps the better way to frame the question is whether JFC has 

asserted a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for rescinding Cannon’s offer, 

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a burden that is usually easily satisfied. But JFS has never cited a reason for 

rescinding Cannon’s offer, such as deciding to reduce the workforce at the site 

or having found a more experienced applicant, which is divorced from his 

physical impairment. It has always maintained—and the timing of events

strongly supports—that it decided not to hire Cannon once it learned of his 

shoulder injury and the ways in which it may limit his ability to perform the 

job. The legitimacy of that justification turns on whether Cannon was disabled 

and qualified for the job. If JFS convinces a jury that Cannon cannot perform 

essential functions of the job because of the injury, then it has offered a lawful 

reason for its decision. But if the jury credits the evidence we have cited 

favoring Cannon and concludes he was disabled, yet still qualified to be a field 

engineer, then revoking Cannon’s job offer based on his physical impairment 

would have constituted the discrimination that the ADA forbids. We thus need

not to address Cannon’s arguments about alleged inconsistencies in who made 

the decision to rescind his offer, the contemporaneous justification for doing so, 

and whether the decision was withheld from Cannon while other JFS 

employees were asking him for more information. All of this can, of course, be 

considered at trial. 

IV.

This leaves one wrinkle. In dismissing the disability discrimination 

claim, the district court did not separately address a failure-to-accommodate 

claim that the summary judgment briefing addressed. This omission may have 

been because the findings of “no disability” and “no qualified individual” would

also doom a failure-to-accommodate claim. See Neely, 735 F.3d at 247 

(explaining that a plaintiff must be a “qualified individual” to sustain a failureto-accommodate claim). Or perhaps it was because JFS had previously filed a 

motion to dismiss arguing that Cannon’s complaint did not allege failure to 

accommodate. But the district court never decided that motion to dismiss (to 

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which the response had sought leave to amend in the event the motion was 

granted), and the case proceeded to the summary judgment stage at which both 

sides argued the merits of such a claim in both the trial court and on appeal. 

Given that the district court never dismissed the claim for pleading 

deficiencies, we can assess only whether summary judgment was warranted 

on a claim of failure to accommodate. We have already found that Cannon may 

be able to convince a jury that he is both disabled and qualified for the position. 

Although a plaintiff must usually request an accommodation to commence an 

interactive process that considers that possibility, he is excused from doing so 

in a situation like this one in which the employer was unquestionably aware 

of the disability and had received a report from its own doctor recommending 

accommodations. Taylor v. Principal Fin. Grp., LLC, 93 F.3d 155, 165 (5th Cir. 

2009) (stating that a plaintiff bears the responsibility of requesting an 

accommodation only when “the disability, resulting limitations, and necessary 

reasonable accommodations are not open, obvious, and apparent to the 

employer”). And looking at the facts in Cannon’s favor, there is little argument 

to be made that JFS engaged in the interactive process the law requires. It 

rescinded the offer almost immediately after learning of Cannon’s impairment 

without further exploration of his impairment or even waiting for his responses 

to the questions posed by the Occupational Health Department.

 * * *

We REVERSE the grant of summary judgment and REMAND this case.

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