NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

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No. 23-2400

___________

GILBERT WRAITH,

Appellant

 

v.

WAYFAIR, INC.; WAYFAIR, LLC

____________

On Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of New Jersey

(D.C. No. 3-20-cv-06054)

District Judge: Honorable Zahid N. Quraishi

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Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)

(September 6, 2024)

Before: JORDAN, HARDIMAN, and PORTER, Circuit Judges.

(Filed: September 11, 2024)

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OPINION*

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* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not 

constitute binding precedent.
2

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

Gilbert Wraith appeals a summary judgment entered in favor of his former 

employer, Wayfair. We will affirm. 

I

Wayfair is a national furniture retailer. In October 2019, Wraith began working as 

a Warehouse Associate for Wayfair in Cranbury, New Jersey. He was paid $15.50 per 

hour to “[u]nload and receive inbound furniture orders,” which “require[d] manually 

moving large, heavy goods.” App. 273. As a Warehouse Associate, Wraith had to “be 

comfortable repeatedly lifting up to 75 pounds unassisted and maneuvering product 150+ 

pounds unassisted or via team lift.” Id. Indeed, in the one-page explanation of the job, 

this requirement—the ability to lift up to 75 pounds unassisted—appears twice: at the top 

of the bullet-point lists of “What You’ll Do” and “What You’ll Need” as a Warehouse 

Associate. Id. (boldface removed). 

Unfortunately, Wraith was injured on the job on February 3, 2020. As Wraith 

testified, his right shoulder “just stopped working,” which “was extremely painful.” App. 

137. Afterward, he “couldn’t lift [his] shoulder and it was extremely painful all the time.” 

Id. Paperwork from doctor’s appointments on February 4, February 7, and February 14

noted only that Wraith could “not return to work.” App. 301, 308, 320. For each 
3

appointment, the doctor left blank the part of the form used to note potential 

accommodations and likewise did not suggest any possible return date. Id.

1

Wayfair terminated Wraith’s employment on February 18, after he had used up all 

his leave time. At the same time, the company told Wraith he was eligible for re-hire if he 

re-applied after recovering. On May 4, Wraith’s doctor cleared him to return to work, but

Wraith chose not to re-apply to Wayfair.

Wraith sued Wayfair in New Jersey state court, alleging violations of three state 

laws: (1) the Law Against Discrimination; (2) the Worker’s Compensation Act; and 

(3) the Paid Sick Leave Law. Wayfair removed the case to federal court based on 

diversity of citizenship and filed a motion for summary judgment. The District Court 

granted the motion, and Wraith timely appealed.

2

II

We review the District Court’s summary judgment de novo. See Freedom From 

Religion Found., Inc. v. Cnty. of Lehigh, 933 F.3d 275, 279 (3d Cir. 2019). The District 

Court granted summary judgment after finding “no genuine dispute as to any material 

fact” and because Wayfair was “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 

56(a). 

A

1 A doctor’s note from March 19 similarly stated that Wraith was “[u]nable to do any 

work” due to a “total temporary disability.” App. 333. It estimated that Wraith could 

return to full duty only “[a]fter [his] next follow up,” on an unspecified date. Id.

2 The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. We have jurisdiction under 

28 U.S.C. § 1291.
4

We begin with Wraith’s claim under New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 10:5-1 et seq. That law makes it “an unlawful employment practice to 

deny to an otherwise qualified person with a disability the opportunity to . . . maintain 

employment . . . solely because such person is a person with a disability,” N.J. Stat. Ann. 

§ 10:5-29.1, “unless the nature and extent of the disability reasonably precludes the 

performance of the particular employment,” N.J. Stat. Ann. § 10:5-4.1. Thus, to establish 

a prima facie case of discriminatory discharge or failure to accommodate, Wraith had to

demonstrate that he was qualified to perform the essential functions of the job, with or

without reasonable accommodations. See Victor v. State, 4 A.3d 126, 141–42 (N.J. 2010) 

(discriminatory discharge); Richter v. Oakland Bd. of Educ., 252 A.3d 161, 172–73 (N.J. 

2021) (failure to accommodate). 

We agree with the District Court that Wraith could not perform the essential 

functions of a Warehouse Associate after his injury. In determining what counts as an 

essential job function, New Jersey law places great weight on the written job description. 

See Raspa v. Off. of Sheriff, 924 A.2d 435, 443–44 (N.J. 2007). Here, Wraith understood 

the duties of a Warehouse Associate at the start of his employment. The written job 

description stipulated that the position required “repeatedly lifting up to 75 pounds 

unassisted”—and maneuvering over 150 pounds “unassisted or via team lift.” App. 273. 

Yet Wraith testified that, in the week after the injury, he was able to lift only 

“[m]inimal weight”—such as a “[c]ell phone”—with his right shoulder. App. 402–03.

None of the medical records from the weeks after his injury indicated when Wraith might 

be able to return to work. And although the medical forms provided check boxes to 
5

indicate any “restrictions” (such as “[l]eft handed duty only”) that might allow for a 

“[r]eturn to work,” these were all left blank. App. 301, 308, 320. Wraith “was not 

qualified to complete the required tasks included in his job description, even with . . .

accommodation.” Wraith v. Wayfair, Inc., 2023 WL 4488045, at *4 (D.N.J. June 12, 

2023). 

B

The District Court also granted Wayfair summary judgment as to Wraith’s claims

that the company retaliated against him for: (1) seeking workmen’s compensation 

benefits, see N.J. Stat. Ann. § 34:15-39.1; and (2) using sick leave, see N.J. Stat. Ann.

§ 34:11D-4. 

We will affirm because Wraith sets forth no facts tending to show that he was

“discharged in retaliation for making” his workmen’s compensation claim. Hejda v. Bell 

Container Corp., 160 A.3d 741, 751 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2017) (cleaned up). 

Indeed, Wraith admitted that Wayfair “filed for Workmen’s Compensation benefits on 

[his] behalf,” ensuring that he received his benefits. App. 144. Moreover, this case is

different from Cerracchio v. Alden Leeds, Inc., 538 A.2d 1292 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 

1988), which Wraith cites to support his position. There, the employee was told: “if you 

weren’t such a troublemaker you would still have a job here.” Id. at 1295. Wraith 

identifies no comparable animus or suggestion that he was fired because he sought 

workmen’s compensation benefits.3

3 The Wayfair human resources employee’s comment that “Workers Comp is NOT a 

protected leave,” App. 22, does not mean that Wayfair was “discriminating against 
6

Rather, the record indicates that Wraith was fired because he could no longer do 

the job. And New Jersey courts have “rejected” the argument that a job must “be held 

open until the worker has recovered from [a] work related injury.” Malone v. Aramark 

Servs., Inc., 760 A.2d 833, 837 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law. Div. 2000) (citing Galante v. 

Sandoz, Inc., 483 A.2d 829 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1984)). “[A]n indefinite unpaid 

leave is not a reasonable accommodation, especially where the employee fails to present 

evidence of the expected duration of her impairment.” Svarnas v. AT&T Commc’ns, 740 

A.2d 662, 673 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1999). Here, Wraith used all the leave he had 

acquired during his few months on the job. And only after Wraith had used up all his 

leave did Wayfair terminate him. This record lacks the necessary “evidence” that 

Wraith’s filing of a claim for benefits “entered into the decision” to terminate him. 

Galante v. Sandoz, Inc, 470 A.2d 45, 47 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law. Div. 1983), aff’d, 483 A.2d 

829 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ap. Div.).

Nor does Wraith cite facts from which a jury could conclude that Wayfair fired 

him in retaliation for using his paid sick leave. As the District Court noted, his 

speculation and conclusory allegations do not suffice. See Wraith, 2023 WL 4488045, at 

*8. So we will affirm as to his paid sick leave retaliation claim as well. 

* * *

No reasonable jury could find for Wraith on any of his claims. We will 

accordingly affirm the District Court’s summary judgment. 

[Wraith] because he claimed workers’ compensation benefits.” Carter v. AFG Indus. Inc., 

782 A.2d 967, 972 (N.J. App. Div. 2001).