Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1017862.html
Timestamp: 2019-05-26 08:28:25
Document Index: 192748436

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u20021291', '§\u200212112', '§\u200212111', '§\u200212102', '§\u20021630', '§\u20021630', '§\u200212102', '§\u200212205', '§\u200212205', '§\u200212112', '§\u200212102']

SUMMERS v. TEICHERT SON INC | FindLaw
SUMMERS v. TEICHERT SON INC
Rick SUMMERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. A. TEICHERT & SON, INC., a California corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 96-15690.
Before: HUG, Chief Judge, CHOY and HAWKINS, Circuit Judges. Timothy M. Smith and Evan Eickmeyer, McKinley & Smith, Sacramento, California, for plaintiff-appellant. Franklin G. Gumpert, Barkett, Gumpert & Reiner, Sacramento, California, for defendant-appellee.
Plaintiff-appellant Rick Summers appeals the summary judgment granted in favor of defendant-appellee A. Teichert & Son, Inc. The district court found that there are no triable issues of fact as to whether Summers is a qualified person with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that in any event, any failure on the part of Teichert to accommodate Summers was justified by business necessity. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm, although on a different ground from those upon which the district court based its decision.
Plaintiff-appellant Rick Summers (“Summers”) was hired as a truck driver for defendant-appellee A. Teichert & Son, Inc. (“Teichert”) in July 1987. Summers' primary job was to drive a flatrack truck. In September 1992, Summers was seriously injured in an accident while driving one of Teichert's trucks. As a result of the accident, Summers was hospitalized for eight days and had to undergo a colostomy. Several months after the accident, Summers underwent a second surgery to reverse the colostomy.
The exact procedure by which non-seniority drivers are assigned work by Teichert's dispatchers is unclear from the record. Summers claims that, if work were available for non-seniority employees, they were usually telephoned the night before by one of Teichert's dispatchers and told to come in to work the following day. Teichert claims that occasionally, non-seniority employees would be telephoned the night before, but not very often, because if the driver showed up for work but no work was in fact available, Teichert would have to pay the driver a “show up” fee. Teichert says that therefore non-seniority employees would generally come to the workyard on their own in the morning, without being called, with the hope of being assigned available work. Mike Queipo, one of Teichert's dispatchers, stated that he would telephone a driver when work became available “providing there is not somebody already at our immediate disposal in the office to grab.” Dan Whitten, the other dispatcher, stated that “on occasion” he would telephone a driver the night before and ask him to come in. However, “[g]enerally, they [the drivers] will show up in the yard. They'll come in․”
According to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e), in response to a properly supported motion for summary judgment, the opposing party “must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” The inquiry performed by the trial court is whether there exist “any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). For an issue to be “genuine,” there must be evidence such that a reasonable jury could reach a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. Therefore, a mere “scintilla” of evidence will not be sufficient to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment; rather, the nonmoving party must introduce some “significant probative evidence tending to support the complaint.” Id. at 252, 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510, 2512. Summary judgment may be granted if “the evidence is merely colorable ․ or is not significantly probative.” Eisenberg v. Insurance Co. of North America, 815 F.2d 1285, 1288 (9th Cir.1987).
According to the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a), an employer shall not “discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.” 2 A “qualified individual with a disability” is a person “with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds.” 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8). In the context of the ADA, the term “disability” means: 1) “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities” of the person; 2) having a “record” of a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the person; or 3) “being regarded as having” a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the person's major life activities. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2).
An employer must make “reasonable accommodation to the known physical ․ limitations of an otherwise qualified ․ employee with a disability, unless [the employer] can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630.9(a). A reasonable accommodation is one that would “enable the [employer's] employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by employees without disabilities.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(1)(iii).
The definition of disability as used in 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2) is in the disjunctive; a person need fit only one of the three definitions to be disabled for the purposes of the ADA.3 However, there is no need for a remand to apply the correct test, because we hold that Teichert reasonably accommodated any disability that Summers may have had. Indeed, we need not reach the issue of whether Summers was disabled, because our holding would be the same whether or not Summers had a disability.
Each party has notified the court of its intention to seek attorneys' fees on appeal, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12205. We have discretion under 42 U.S.C. § 12205 to grant attorney's fees to the prevailing party, which in this case is Teichert. However, attorney's fees should be granted to a defendant in a civil rights action only “upon a finding that the plaintiff's action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.” Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 421, 98 S.Ct. 694, 700, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978). Given that standard, we believe that a grant of attorney's fees would be inappropriate in this case.
1. Summers actively sought other jobs during this time.
2. The term “discriminate” in the context of this statute refers to “limiting, segregating, or classifying a[n] ․ employee in a way that adversely affects the opportunities or status of such ․ employee because of the disability of such ․ employee.” 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(1).
3. According to 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2), a “disability” is:(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual;(B) a record of such an impairment; or(C) being regarded as having such an impairment.
4. Summers actively sought other employment during this time.