Opinion ID: 777989
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nature, Severity, Duration, and Impact of Duty's Physical Disability

Text: 40 NAP maintains that Duty's heavy lifting restriction alone was insufficient probative evidence regarding the nature, severity, and duration of Duty's physical impairment and how it substantially limited his ability to work, especially because Duty continues to perform heavy work by comfortably lifting up to fifty pounds, and by working between forty and sixty hours a week on his farm baling hay and driving a dump truck. See Mellon v. Federal Express Corp., 239 F.3d 954, 957 (8th Cir.2001) (stating that, as a matter of law, a disability claim premised on a lifting restriction alone must be rejected). 41 Duty presented evidence at trial to illustrate the nature, severity, duration and impact of his impairment, including (1) symptoms of chilling occurring several times a week and lasting approximately forty-five minutes, (2) chronic neck pain present approximately ninety percent of the time, (3) weakness, (4) numbness in his groin and hands, (5) upper arm pain, and (6) headaches. A jury reasonably could conclude that these symptoms indicated a permanent disability beyond a lifting restriction. As a result, we conclude that the district court did not err in determining that sufficient evidence existed regarding the nature, severity, duration and impact of Duty's disability to sustain his ACRA claim. 42 (ii) Limitation on Duty's Ability to Perform Either a Class of Jobs or a Broad Range of Jobs Across Various Classes 43 NAP argues that Duty failed to meet his burden of showing that he was unable to perform either an entire class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes compared to the average person with comparable training, skills, and abilities. Specifically, NAP contends that the vocational consultant's assessment only excluded Duty from a portion of jobs within a class of jobs, not an entire class of jobs or a broad range of jobs across various classes. NAP claims that the vocational consultant neglected to consider other work that Duty performed at NAP, such as electrical and truck-driving work, as well as Duty's farm work and other maintenance mechanic jobs that do not require heavy lifting. Because Duty did not apply for available jobs in his field, NAP contends that the jury had no evidence regarding the number and kind of jobs available to him, making it unreasonable for the jury to conclude that Duty's work restrictions disqualified him from those jobs. 44 At trial, Duty presented evidence to demonstrate that NAP regarded him as significantly restricted in the major life activity of working, including (1) evidence of his lifting restriction which disqualified him from the type of work in which he is trained, (2) evidence of his lack of education, (3) evidence of his relatively advanced age, and (4) the vocational consultant's affidavit, which found him to be disqualified from the available jobs in his working area based on his disability. 45 Moreover, the relevant EEOC regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(3)(ii), states that 46 [a]n individual who has a back condition that prevents the individual from performing any heavy labor job would be substantially limited in the major life activity of working because the individual's impairment eliminates his or her ability to perform a class of jobs. This would be so even if the individual were able to perform jobs in another class, e.g., the class of semi-skilled jobs. 47 As a result, the jury reasonably could conclude that Duty met his burden of showing that he was significantly restricted in the ability to perform either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes as compared to the average person having comparable training, skills, and abilities. Webb v. Garelick Mfg. Co., 94 F.3d 484 (8th Cir.1996). Consequently, we hold that the district court did not err in determining that sufficient evidence existed regarding Duty's inability to perform a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs. 48