Notice: This opinion is subject to correction before publication in the PACIFIC REPORTER. 

Readers are requested to bring errors to the attention of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts, 

303 K Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99501, phone (907) 264-0608, fax (907) 264-0878, email 

corrections@akcourts.us. 

THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ALASKA 

TERRI REYNOLDS-ROGERS, 

Appellant, 

v. 

STATE OF ALASKA, 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & 

SOCIAL SERVICES, 

Appellee. 

) 

) Supreme Court No. S-16409 

Superior Court No. 3AN-14-09825 CI 

O P I N I O N 

No. 7340 – March 8, 2019 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Third 

Judicial District, Anchorage, Mark Rindner, Judge. 

Appearances: Terri S. Reynolds-Rogers, pro se, Palmer, 

Appellant. Elizabeth M. Bakalar, Janell M. Hafner, Assistant 

Attorneys General, and Jahna Lindemuth, Attorney General, 

Juneau, for Appellee. 

Before: Stowers, Chief Justice, Winfree, Maassen, Bolger, 

and Carney, Justices. 

MAASSEN, Justice. 

I. INTRODUCTION 

A former employee of the Department of Health and Social Services 

(DHSS) brought a wrongful discharge suit against the State. At the time of her 

termination she had four union grievances pending against DHSS, and her union filed 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

another based on the termination. The union settled all five grievances in exchange for 

a payment to the employee. She later sued DHSS for wrongful termination, alleging 

both breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and several torts, including 

retaliatory discharge and failure to accommodate her disabilities. The superior court 

granted DHSS’s motion for summary judgment and entered final judgment against the 

employee. 

We conclude that the superior court was correct in deciding that the 

employee’s claims were resolved by the settlement of her grievances, were barred by the 

statute of limitations, or were legally insufficient in light of the undisputed facts. We 

therefore affirm the superior court’s judgment. 

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS 

A. Facts 

1. Work duties 

Terri Reynolds-Rogers (Rogers1

) began to work for DHSS as a Health 

Program Manager I in August 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in zoology and 

completed two years of medical school. Her job duties with DHSS involved 

implementing the Medicaid program: she began by screening paperwork from nursing 

homes and hospitals related to authorizations for long-term care and was later given 

duties related to the Medicaid Waiver program.2 

1 The appellant identifies herself as “Rogers” in her brief, and we follow her 

convention. 

2 TheMedicaidWaiverprogram“provide[s]disabledAlaskans within-home 

care services as an alternative to institutionalization.” Radebaugh v. State, Dep’t of 

Health & Soc. Servs., Div. of Senior & Disabilities Servs., 397 P.3d 285, 287 (Alaska 

2017). 

-2- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogers’s immediatesupervisor during most ofher employmentwith DHSS 

was Rita Walker, whose supervisor was Leanna Hunter. At one point Walker’s 

supervisor had been Odette Jamieson, who “remain[ed] in the chain of command to the 

end of [Rogers’s] service” as Hunter’s supervisor. 

Forthefirstfewyears Rogers’s employment withDHSSwasunremarkable, 

though she described some friction between herself and Walker. Her first performance 

evaluation, in June 2011, rated her overall performance as “mid acceptable.” The 

evaluation set out goals for the following year, including weekly meetings with Walker, 

a “[d]ecrease [in] use of unscheduled leave,” cross-training for other positions, showing 

“improvement in acceptance of supervision,” and “[c]onsistently follow[ing] chain of 

command.” Rogers strongly disagreed with the rating and asserts that she filed a lengthy 

rebuttal. 

Inthesummer of2011 DHSSbegan to changeRogers’s work requirements. 

Some changes appear to be related to the goals in the June 2011 evaluation; these 

included expanding Rogers’s duties to encompass training in the Medicaid Waiver 

review process. The parties disagreed about why Rogers’s duties increased: Rogers 

asserted that it was retaliation by Walker, while DHSS contended that it was part of an 

effort to cross-train her and make better use of her education. Rogers points to a tasks 

spreadsheet that she and management developed, which in her opinion shows she was 

being asked to do more than eight hours of work in a seven-and-a-half-hour day. 

The record reflects ongoing problems between Rogers and Walker relating 

to a variety of issues: unexplained absences, Rogers’s use of her time while at work, the 

waysheprocessedincompletelong-termcareauthorizationrequests, and her willingness 

to accept supervision and follow the chain of command. 

2. Disability accommodations requests 

In July 2011 Rogers requested an evaluation of her work station because 

-3- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

of “increased neck and hand pain, . . . with numbness, tingling and loss of strength in 

both hands.” An outside company conducted an ergonomic evaluation of Rogers’s work 

station and recommended modifications, some of which DHSS provided. Rogers was 

later in two car accidents, and her work station was again evaluated. One 

recommendation — now a point of contention — was an adjustable desk. 

In May 2012, after suffering an attack of Ménière disease which she said 

was triggered by stress, Rogers filed a request for disability accommodation related to 

the disease. DHSS did not grant the exact accommodations she requested, but it did 

provide her with an electronic tablet to help with the hearing impairment that is 

sometimes a symptom of the disease. 

Rogers also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though 

she did not disclose it to her employer until early 2013. According to Rogers, she had 

no reason to tell DHSS about the condition until problems arose with the rearrangement 

of her office furniture. She testified that when she returned to work after the Presidents 

Day holiday in February 2013, she found her desk rearranged so that her back was to the 

door; she said that working in this position would trigger her PTSD. She and a coworker 

“reoriented” the desk to face the door. According to Rogers, Walker was displeased and 

told her the desk had to be turned around. Rogers went to Jamieson, Walker’s superior, 

and explained why she could not work with her back to the door; Rogers testified that 

Jamieson “allowed [her] to keep [her] desk properly oriented for [her] safety.” But 

Rogers asked Jamieson not to discuss her PTSD diagnosis with others at DHSS. 

Rogers had a disciplinary suspension in March 2013, and when she 

returned to work on April 1 her desk was again oriented with her back to the door. On 

the door was a notice forbidding the rearrangement of furniture; an email from Hunter 

explained that Rogers’s“furnitureconfiguration hadtaken up almosttheentireofficeand 

the second employee [sharing the office] was confined to one corner of the room. Now 

-4- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the space is more appropriately split.” When Rogers complained to Jamieson, Jamieson 

told her to “work with [her] supervisors on th[is] type[] of request[].” Hunter and 

Walker learned of Rogers’s PTSD diagnosis at this point, and Rogers formally notified 

them of it on April 2, explaining that her “confidentiality [had] already been breached.” 

She was given paperwork to begin an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

accommodations request, and DHSS offered to allow her to work in another office in the 

meantime. In an email to Walker, Rogers declined “the offer of an interim change in 

offices” because the desk in the other office was not adjustable but said she would move 

“if that is still your instruction.” She submitted the ADA paperwork for an 

accommodation related to her PTSD, and on April 12 DHSS agreed to grant her 

accommodation request. 

3. Discipline history 

Rogers was the subject of progressive discipline a number of times. She 

was given a Letter of Expectation in March 2008 related to her use of work time, and in 

April 2009 she received a Letter of Warning about inappropriate communication with 

her supervisor. She filed a grievance through her union related to the Letter of Warning, 

contending that the underlying issue was simply “a communications problem” between 

her and Walker. The grievance was still unresolved when Rogers was fired in 2013. 

In November 2011 Rogers was reprimanded in part because she “failed to 

follow specific instructions to not discuss” a disciplinary process “with anyone outside 

of [her] supervisory chain of command or union representation”; she had sent an email 

to the supervisor of another employee who had filed a complaint about her to document 

what she considered to be inappropriate behavior by that employee. Rogers was given 

another Letter of Warning in February 2012 because of her use of unscheduled leave and 

her failure to follow instructions, and she filed a grievance about this letter. In 

November 2012 and again in March 2013 she was suspended because of difficulties 

-5- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

completing her work, the first time for 5 days and the second for 15 days. Again, she 

grieved the suspensions through her union. 

During the second suspension, staff who were covering Rogers’s work 

discovered a large number of incomplete long-term care authorization requests in her 

office that had not been reported to her supervisors. In a later interview Rogers 

acknowledged that “[t]here were 153 all together,” and she explained she “could have 

finished them but [she] was not allowed to do the facilities’ share of the work.” She said 

that in the past she had “completed the facilities’ share of the work if they were more 

than a couple weeks behind in getting payment” and that she “viewed it as part of [her] 

job — to get long-term care authorization completed whether or not the information was 

provided by the long-term care facility or whether [she] called them to get the correct 

information from them.” This was contrary to established practice; Rogers had been 

instructed before that it was up to the providers to make necessary corrections to their 

paperwork. 

Rogers was fired on April 12, 2013 — the same day DHSS granted her 

request for accommodation related to her PTSD —following a contentious investigatory 

interview. Through her union she filed a grievance contesting the termination. In June 

2013 the union settled all of the grievances, including the other four that were pending 

at the time of her termination: the union withdrew the grievances in exchange for 

DHSS’s agreement to pay Rogers $3,800 and remove a performance evaluation for 

2011-12 from her records. 

B. Proceedings 

On April 5, 2013, a week before her termination, Rogers filed a complaint 

with the Alaska State Commission on Human Rights (ASCHR). Shortly afterwards she 

filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), 

-6- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

which investigated thecomplaint, concluded that it was unableto establish anyviolations 

of the relevant statutes, and in August 2014 gave Rogers a “Right to Sue” letter. 

Rogers, through counsel, filed suit against DHSS, alleging several causes 

of action: breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, failure to 

provide reasonable accommodations, wrongful termination, retaliation, and 

discrimination based on disability and age.3 DHSS answered and moved for summary 

judgment, which the superior court granted. The court observed that a wrongful 

termination claim required proof of either a breach of contract or a tort. It decided that 

Rogers’s union settlement barred any claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and 

fair dealing. It decided that the statute of limitations had run on a claim for failure to 

reasonably accommodate any disabilities except PTSD, and that DHSS had reasonably 

accommodated that disability. The court decided that Rogers had established a prima 

faciecaseof disability discrimination, that DHSShad carried its burden ofdemonstrating 

that it had a legitimate reason for firing her, and that Rogers had failed to show that this 

reason was actually “an impermissible pretext.” The court likewise decided that Rogers 

had established a prima facie case of retaliation but that DHSS had shown a legitimate 

reason for her termination which Rogers had not shown to be pretextual. 

Rogers, now self-represented, appeals. 

III. STANDARDS OF REVIEW 

“We review a grant of summary judgment de novo,”4 “affirming if the 

record presents no genuine issue of material fact and if the movant is entitled to judgment 

3 Rogers later conceded that she did not have an age-related discrimination 

claim. 

4 Mitchell v. Teck Cominco Alaska Inc., 193 P.3d 751, 757 (Alaska 2008). 

-7- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as a matter of law.”5 

IV.	 DISCUSSION 

A.	 The Superior Court Did Not Err In Granting Summary Judgment On 

Rogers’s Claim For Violation Of The Covenant Of Good Faith And 

Fair Dealing. 

The superior court based its denial of Rogers’s claim for breach of the 

covenant of good faith and fair dealing on her union’s settlement of the five grievances 

in exchange for a monetary payment to Rogers. The court reasoned that breach of the 

covenant is a contract-based claim; that the contract at issue was “the Collective 

Bargaining Agreement between the State and the Alaska State Employees Association”; 

and that claims based on the covenant therefore had to be pursued by the contractual 

grievance policy, which had finally resolved them by settlement. 

We see no error in this analysis. A cause of action based on the covenant 

of good faith and fair dealing is a contract claim.6 An employee represented by a union 

who wishes to bring an employment-related contract claim against the employer must 

first exhaust the administrative remedies available through the union or showgood cause 

why exhaustion should be excused.7 Rogers and her union settled her grievances, and 

there were therefore no further administrative remedies to exhaust. But her acceptance 

of the settlement bars litigation of the settled contract disputes.8 

5	 Hagen v. Strobel, 353 P.3d 799, 802 (Alaska 2015). 

6 See Holland v. Union Oil Co. of Cal., 993 P.2d 1026, 1032 (Alaska 1999) 

(“This court has ‘recognized a covenant of good faith and fair dealing in all at-will 

employment contracts.’ ” (quoting Luedtke v. Nabors Alaska Drilling, Inc., 834 P.2d 

1220, 1223 (Alaska 1992))). 

7 See Wilson v. Municipality of Anchorage, 977 P.2d 713, 724 (Alaska 1999). 

8 See Plumber v. Univ. of Alaska Anchorage, 936 P.2d 163, 168 (Alaska 

(continued...) 

-8-	 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogers argues, however, that the settlement agreement resolving her 

grievancesshouldberescindedfor several reasons, includingfraud, “misunderstanding,” 

breach of fiduciary duty by her union, lack of consideration, and unconscionability. She 

appears to argue that the union representative misled her about what she would be giving 

up by agreeing to the settlement (fraud or misrepresentation) or that she misunderstood 

what the union representative was telling her (unilateral mistake). In other words, she 

argues that the fatal flaws in the settlement agreement were due not to DHSS but to her 

union representation. Her claim could be characterized as a “hybrid claim,” involving 

not only a claim against the employer for breach of the collective bargaining agreement 

but also one against the union for breach of its duty of fair representation.9 

But Rogers did not argue in the superior court that the settlement agreement 

was invalid and should be set aside; her only argument about the grievance process 

concerned whether she was required to exhaust her remedies. A claim for breach of the 

duty of fair representation generally raises issues of fact about the union’s conduct, none 

of which were litigated in the trial court in this case.10 In the absence of any argument 

8 (...continued) 

1997) (holding that settlement of one claim barred employee from “relitigating to obtain 

a better settlement”). 

9 See Bernard v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 367 P.3d 1156, 1159 n.5 (Alaska 

2016). 

10 See Cameron v. Chang-Craft, 251 P.3d 1008, 1018 (Alaska 2011) (“A 

union breaches its duty of fair representation ‘only when [the union’s] conduct toward 

a member of the collective bargaining unit is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.’ ” 

(alteration in original) (quoting Schaub v. K&L Distribs., Inc., 115 P.3d555, 562 (Alaska 

2005))), disavowed in part on other grounds by Christensen v. Alaska Sales & Serv., 

Inc., 335 P.3d 514, 520 n.49 (Alaska 2014); Rollins v. Cmty. Hosp. of San Bernardino, 

839 F.3d 1181, 1186-88 (9th Cir. 2016) (holding there were jury questions about 

(continued...) 

-9- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

why the settlement agreement should be set aside, the superior court did not err when it 

relied on the settlement to bar her contractual claim for breach of the covenant of good 

faith and fair dealing.11 

B.	 The Superior Court Correctly Decided That The Statute Of 

Limitations Barred All But One Of Rogers’s Disability Discrimination 

Claims. 

The superior court decided that the statute of limitations barred disability 

discrimination claims related to DHSS’s actions prior to October 2012. It relied on a 

regulation requiring that a complaint alleging a discriminatory act be filed with the 

Alaska State Commission on Human Rights within 180 days of the act,12 concluding that 

“[a]ny acts occurring more than 180 days before the ASCHR complaint [were] . . . 

untimely.” Because Rogers made her complaint to the Commission on April 5, 2013, the 

court concluded that causes of action based on “any acts occurring before October 7, 

2012 [were] . . . untimely filed.” It concluded that causes of action related to acts prior 

to October 23, 2012 — two years before she filed her complaint in superior court — 

were barred in any event because of the two-year statute of limitations on tort actions. 

Under this ruling, the only allegedly discriminatory acts not barred by the statute of 

limitations were those related to Rogers’s PTSD. 

10 (...continued) 

whether union acted arbitrarily and “in a perfunctory manner” when handling plaintiff’s 

grievance); Addington v. US Airline Pilots Ass’n, 791 F.3d 967, 982 (9th Cir. 2015) 

(“Whether a union’s conduct amounted to a breach of its duty of fair representation 

presents a mixed question of law and fact . . . .”). 

11 Ivy v. Calais Co., 397 P.3d 267, 275 (Alaska 2017) (“An argument is 

ordinarily not preserved for appeal if it was not raised below, or if it was only raised after 

the party filed a motion for reconsideration.”). 

12 6 Alaska Administrative Code (AAC) 30.230 (2014). 

-10-	 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogers contends on appeal that the statute of limitations on all her claims 

should have been equitably tolled because she was pursuing her union grievances. 

Again, however, she did not make this argument in the superior court, as DHSS points 

out. While we can in limited circumstances consider issues raised for the first time on 

appeal,13 those circumstances are not met here because equitable tolling requires 

consideration of prejudice to the defendant, which is ultimately a factual issue.14 The 

superior court made no findings about prejudice. Because Rogers did not raise equitable 

tolling in the superior court, that argument has been waived,15 and she offers no other 

argument of error on this point. We therefore conclude that the superior court was 

correct in deciding thatthestatuteoflimitationsbarred Rogers’s disability discrimination 

claims other than the one related to her PTSD. 

C.	 The Superior Court Did Not Err In Granting Summary Judgment To 

DHSS On The Claim For Failure To Accommodate Rogers’s PTSD. 

Rogers argues that DHSS failed to accommodate her PTSD — and in fact 

purposely acted to trigger it — by twice rearranging her office furniture so that her back 

was to the door. DHSS counters that once it became aware of Rogers’s need for 

accommodation related to this condition it promptly engaged in an interactive process 

with her, thus fulfilling its obligations under the ADA. 

13 See Radebaugh v. State, Dep’t of Health & Soc. Servs., Div. of Senior & 

Disabilities Servs., 397 P.3d 285, 292 (Alaska 2017) (setting out circumstances when 

issue not raised below may be considered on appeal). 

14 See Irby v. Fairbanks Gold Mining, Inc., 203 P.3d 1138, 1142-43 (Alaska 

2009) (setting out test for equitable tolling and applying it when raised on appeal for the 

first time because factfinder had considered prejudice in context of another equitable 

argument). 

15 See, e.g., Wagner v. Stuckagain Heights, 926 P.2d 456, 459 (Alaska 1996) 

(holding that argument not presented in superior court is waived). 

-11-	 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Federal courts have held that the ADA requires an employer to ‘engage 

with the employee in an “interactive process” to determine the appropriate 

accommodationunderthecircumstances’ onceit is awareoftheemployee’s disability.”16 

It is undisputed that Rogers had not told any of her superiors that she suffered from 

PTSD before February 2013, when she told Jamieson that she had to work facing the 

door and explained why. Jamieson allowed this accommodation once Rogers and a 

coworker had moved the desk to where Rogers wanted it. It thus appears that DHSS 

immediately accommodated the disability as soon as Rogers made Jamieson aware of it. 

But Rogers concedes that she kept her PTSD diagnosis from Walker, her immediate 

supervisor; she testified at her deposition that she asked Jamieson not to “spread this 

around” to others at DHSS because it was “private.” 

Rogers claims that Walker acted intentionally to trigger her PTSD when in 

April 2013 Walker again oriented the desk so that Rogers’s back was to the door, but she 

offers no evidence that Walker was aware of the PTSD diagnosis at that time. The notes 

from Rogers’s interview with the EEOC indicate that when Rogers returned in April to 

find the desk oriented so she would have to work with her back to the door, she sent an 

email to another supervisor informing her of the PTSD and seeking permission to leave 

for the day because of the stress involved. According to Rogers, the PTSD diagnosis 

was disclosed to Hunter and Walker at that time. No evidence contradicts Rogers’s own 

assertion that Walker learned of her PTSD only after the desk was reoriented the second 

time, and this time line is consistent with emails from Rogers and DHSS staff as well as 

Hunter’s deposition testimony. 

Smith v. Anchorage Sch. Dist., 240 P.3d 834, 843 (Alaska 2010) (quoting 

EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 417 F.3d 789, 805 (7th Cir. 2005)). 

-12- 7340 

16 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DHSS did not immediately agree to reorient the desk in April, but after 

Hunter and Walker were made aware of the diagnosis DHSS began the interactive 

process required by federal law. DHSS gave ADA forms to Rogers and in an email 

dated April 12 agreed to accommodate her. In short, DHSS agreed to the 

accommodation Rogers demanded less than two weeks after she advised her direct 

supervisors of her disability and need for accommodation. 

Federal courts have decided that similar time lapses in accommodating 

ADA requests are reasonable as a matter of law. For example, in Kintz v. United Parcel 

Service, Inc., the court decided that a “delay of a mere 15 days is not unreasonable under 

the ADA.”17 Another federal court decided that a 17-day delay was insufficient as a 

matter of law to support a failure to accommodate claim.18 

Because DHSS engaged in the interactive process required by the ADA 

once it was informed of Rogers’s PTSD and her need for accommodation, and because 

it promptly granted her accommodation, summary judgment for DHSS was proper on 

the claim for failure to accommodate her PTSD. 

D.	 The Superior Court Did Not Err In Granting Summary Judgment On 

The Disability Discrimination Claim. 

To establish a prima facie case for a disability discrimination claim under 

AS 18.80.220, a plaintiff must show the following: 

(1) that he or she is an individual who has a disability within 

the meaning of the statute; (2) that he or she could perform 

the essential functions of the position he or she holds (with or 

17 766 F. Supp. 2d 1245, 1257 (M.D. Ala. 2011). 

18 Marks v. Wash. Wholesale Liquor Co., 253 F. Supp. 3d 312, 326 (D.D.C. 

2017); see also Keen v. Teva Sales & Mktg., Inc., 303 F. Supp. 3d 690, 730 (N.D. Ill. 

2018) (granting summary judgment to employer that returned plaintiff to work with 

accommodations two weeks later than plaintiff requested). 

-13-	 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

without reasonable accommodation); and (3) that he or she 

has suffered an otherwise adverse employment decision 

because of the disability.[19] 

This test is derived from the burden-shifting analysis adopted by the U.S. 

Supreme Court in employment discrimination cases brought under Title VII of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964.20 If the employee can establish a prima facie case, “the burden shifts 

to the employer to articulate legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for the employment 

action.”21 If the employer meets this burden, the employee must then show “that 

discriminatory reasons more likely motivated the employer.”22 “Because a complainant 

can show pretext either directly or indirectly, a variety of factors can evidence a 

pretextual justification.”23 

Here the superior court determined on summary judgment that Rogers had 

met her initial burden of demonstrating a genuine issue of material fact as to all three 

elements. On appeal DHSS challenges this determination, arguing that no facts support 

a finding that Rogers could perform the essential functions of her position24 and that the 

19 Smith, 240 P.3d at 843 (quoting Moody-Herrerav. State,Dep’t of Nat. Res., 

967 P.2d 79, 88 (Alaska 1998)). 

20 Haroldsen v. Omni Enters., Inc., 901 P.2d 426, 430 (Alaska 1995) (citing 

Alaska State Comm’n for Human Rights v. Yellow Cab, 611 P.2d 487, 490 (Alaska 

1980)). 

21 Raad v. Alaska State Comm’n for Human Rights, 86 P.3d 899, 905 (Alaska 

2004). 

22 Id. 

23 Id. 

24 Afederalregulation defines“essentialfunctions”to mean “thefundamental
 

job duties of the employment position the individual with a disability holds or desires”
 

(continued...)
 

-14- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

trial court put too much weight on the temporal proximity between Rogers’s request for 

accommodation of her PTSD and her firing. 

The superior court did not have before it on summary judgment any 

evidence regarding the essential functions of Rogers’s position; neither Rogers’s initial 

job description nor the revised job description was included in the record. Given the 

dearth of information about the specific functions of Rogers’s job, the superior court did 

not err in finding that Rogers’s “mid acceptable” performance evaluation in 2011 

adequately supported a prima facie case that she was able to perform the essential 

functions of her position. 

Nor did the court err by using temporal proximity to establish the third 

prong.25 Rogers suffered at least two adverse employment actions in close proximity to 

her attempts to rearrange her office: the February repositioning of the desk was one of 

the issues in a February investigatory interview that resulted in the 15-day suspension 

in March, and she was fired within two weeks of her return to the office on April 1 and 

her request at that time for accommodation of her PTSD. 

But we also agree with the superior court that DHSS met its burden of 

demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact as to whether it had 

legitimate reasons for firing Rogers. One legitimate reason was the discovery of many 

24 (...continued) 

but “does not include the marginal functions of the position.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(n)(1) 

(2018). 

25 SeeVECO,Inc. v. Rosebrock,970 P.2d906,919(Alaska1999)(“Causation 

sufficient to establish a prima facie case of unlawful retaliation may be inferred from the 

proximity in time between the protected action and the allegedly retaliatory discharge.” 

(quoting Miller v. Fairchild Indus., Inc., 797 F.2d 727, 731 (9th Cir. 1986))). The 

analysis of a disability discrimination claim is similar to that for an unlawful retaliation 

claim. See id. at 918. 

-15- 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pending requests for long-term care authorizations in various stages of the approval 

process that Rogers had apparently not disclosed to her supervisors. The record supports 

other reasons as well: Rogers appears to have disregarded instructions about processing 

incompleteapplications;shewent outsideher chain ofcommanddespiteadmonitions not 

to do so; and she disregarded directives not to discuss certain personnel issues with 

others. 

Because DHSS met its burden of showing it had legitimate reasons for 

firing Rogers, the burden shifted to her to show that these reasons were pretextual. 

Federal courts have held that “the plaintiff must produce ‘specific, substantial evidence 

of pretext,’ ” or, put another way, “must tender a genuine issue of material fact as to 

pretext in order to avoid summary judgment.”26 The superior court decided that DHSS 

was entitled to summary judgment because Rogers provided no evidence she was 

terminated because of her disability. Although Rogers made many allegations that 

Walker and others in DHSS acted deliberately to fire her or to overwhelm her with work, 

she offered no specific evidence that her firing was motivated by her PTSD and request 

for accommodation of that disability.27 We agree with the superior court that Rogers 

failed to present evidence sufficient to show a genuine issue of material fact as to 

whether DHSS’s reasons for firing her were pretextual. 

E.	 The Superior Court Did Not Err In Granting Summary Judgment To 

DHSS On The Retaliatory Discharge Claim. 

The final question on appeal is whether the superior court erred in granting 

26	 Wallis v. J.R. Simplot Co., 26 F.3d 885, 890 (9th Cir. 1994) (quoting Steckl 

v. Motorola, Inc., 703 F.2d 392, 393 (9th Cir. 1983)). 

27 In her reply brief Rogers cites documents and depositions that were not 

filed with the superior court and thus are not part of the record on appeal. See Alaska R. 

App. P. 210(a) (limiting record on appeal to “original papers and exhibits filed in the 

trial court” (emphasis added)). 

-16-	 7340
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

summary judgment to DHSS on Rogers’s retaliation claim. The analysis for a claim of 

retaliation is similar to that used in a discrimination claim: 

To establish a prima facie case of discriminatory retaliation, 

a complainant must establish that (1) the complainant 

engaged in a protected activity (e.g., opposed a 

discriminatory practice); (2) the complainant suffered an 

adverse employment action; and (3) there was a causal link 

between the protected activity and the employer’s action.[28] 

“Causation may be inferred from the proximity in time between the protected action and 

the allegedly retaliatory action.”29 The superior court found that Rogers met her burden 

of showing a prima facie case. The court decided that her union grievances and 

discrimination complaint to ASCHR were protected activities and that she suffered the 

adverse employment action of being fired. It then decided that she had satisfied the final 

element — the causal link — because of temporal proximity. 

DHSS challenges this threshold determination, arguing that there is no 

evidence to support a causal link between the protected activity and the employer’s 

actions. It contends that the timing of the ADA accommodation and Rogers’s firing was 

“pure coincidence” and cannot serve as a basis for meeting the third element. 

We again agree with the superior court that Rogers made a prima facie case 

of retaliation. She was disciplined shortly after she repositioned her desk in midFebruary, despite explaining that Jamieson had authorized it. She had multiple union 

grievances pending at the time of her dismissal, including one related to the February 

2013 discipline, and she was fired shortly after she filed the request for accommodation 

of her PTSD. 

28 Raad, 86 P.3d at 905. 

29 Id. 

-17­ 7340 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the plaintiff claiming retaliatory discharge has established a prima 

facie case, “the burden in a pretext case shifts to the employer to show a legitimate, nonretaliatory reason for the discharge.”30 As set out above, DHSS was able to demonstrate 

the absence of a genuine issue of material fact as to whether it had legitimate reasons for 

firing Rogers. The burden then shifted to Rogers “to show that discriminatory reasons 

more likely motivated the employer.”31 She argued in the superior court that she met the 

burden through temporal proximity and through evidence that her supervisors were 

aware of the grievances. However, she was “required . . . to offer something more than 

‘unsupported assumptions and speculation’ ” in order to create a genuine issue of 

material fact.32 

On appeal Rogers offers little in the way of evidence to support her 

contentions. For example, she asserts that Walker purposely triggered her PTSD by 

repositioning her desk during her suspension, butRogers’sown statementsindicated that 

Walker found out about the PTSD diagnosis only after Rogers returned to work. No fact 

that Rogers points to substantiates her claim that DHSS retaliated against her for making 

the ADA request related to her PTSD or for grieving her concerns through the union 

process. 

Because DHSS showed it had a legitimate reason for terminating Rogers’s 

employment and Rogers failed to provide evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue 

of material fact as to whether that reason was pretextual, the superior court did not err 

in granting DHSS summary judgment on the retaliatory discharge claim. 

30 Mahan v. Arctic Catering, Inc., 133 P.3d 655, 660 (Alaska 2006). 

31 Raad, 86 P.3d at 905. 

32 Mahan, 133 P.3d at 661 (quoting French v. Jadon, Inc., 911 P.2d 20, 25 

(Alaska 1996)). 

-18- 7340
 
 

V. CONCLUSION 

We AFFIRM the superior court’s judgment. 

-19- 7340