Opinion ID: 2792880
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Harris’s declaration

Text: Harris’s sworn declaration directly contradicts Ford’s insistence that the teamwork required of resale buyers—both spur of the moment trouble-shooting and scheduled meetings—is actually done face-to-face. Harris attested that she performed 95% of her job duties electronically (on the computer or telephone), even when in the office. R. 66-3 (Harris Decl. ¶ 10) (Page ID #1263) (“Approximately 70% percent [sic] of the work I did as a Buyer was done on a computer. Approximately 25% of the work I did as a Buyer was done on the telephone.”). Harris added that “the vast majority of communications and interactions with both the internal and external stakeholders were done via a conference call.” Id. ¶ 3 (Page ID #1262). She further declared that she “frequently communicated with [her] co-workers via email even though both [she] and [her] co-workers were in the office,” and that she “also frequently communicated with suppliers via email and telephone.” Id. ¶¶ 5–6 (Page ID #1263). Harris attested that scheduled teamwork, like meetings, did not always occur face-to-face. She stated that Ford had “telephone conference call capabilities which would allow employees to engage in a meeting without actually having all the meeting stakeholders present in the same room,” and No. 12-2484 EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. Page 24 that “all internal meetings included the conference call attendance option.” Id. ¶¶ 7, 9 (Page ID #1263) (emphasis added). The majority dismisses Harris’s testimony because she does not say she could perform all of her duties “as effectively off-site.” Maj. Op. at 13. But that focus certainly is not taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Harris, as the summary-judgment standard commands. Instead, the majority is actively looking for ways to read omissions—not even actual statements—in her testimony in the light least favorable to her. Although Harris agreed when she first met with her supervisor that four of her ten to eleven job responsibilities could be done only at Ford, a closer look at the record reveals that she disputed that the tasks arose every day or that they could not be postponed until she was next in the office, which would be at least some days each week. R. 66-10 (Mtg. Notes at 2) (Page ID #1319).1 At least one of those four responsibilities—supplier site visits—does not advance Ford’s argument that physical attendance at the Ford work site is an essential function of Harris’s job because Harris would have to travel to make those visits; whether she leaves from the office or from home should not matter.2 Nor is there any indication in the record whether all four tasks are themselves properly considered essential functions of the resale buyer job. For example, we do not know “[t]he amount of time spent on the job performing [these] functions,” one factor mentioned in the EEOC regulations. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(n)(3)(iii). We can consider Harris’s own experience on the job. The EEOC regulations make explicit that we can consider relevant evidence to define the essential functions of a job, even if the evidence is not explicitly articulated in the regulations. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(n)(3) (stating that 1 Ford’s meeting notes are not even consistent as to how many of Harris’s job responsibilities could in no way be performed remotely. In its second meeting with Harris on April 15, 2009, Ford’s meeting notes list only three of Harris’s ten job responsibilities as ones that “could not be conducted from home” or “could not have been done remotely.” R. 66-10 (Mtg. Notes at 4–5) (Page ID #1321–22). Three tasks are labeled as ones that “[c]an be done from home” or remotely. Id. For Harris’s remaining job responsibilities, Ford falls back on its contention that the tasks are “often done face to face” or require “a high level of interaction” with other parties. Id. at 4–5 (Page ID #1321–22). 2 Ford did not present any evidence suggesting Harris would be unable or less able to make site visits if she telecommuted for some period of time each week. In contrast, the EEOC did present evidence suggesting that allowing Harris to telework would likely increase her ability to make such visits reliably in the future. Harris’s doctor wrote that her IBS outbreaks would likely become progressively fewer and less frequent the longer Ford allowed her to telework: “If she were allowed to work from home/telecommute when her IBS was bad . . . [h]er work productivity and her health would both improve.” R. 41-5 (Ladd Ltr.) (Page ID #631). A second doctor testified in his deposition that “there was [sic] times like up to a year” when Harris was without IBS symptoms “because she wasn’t stressed.” R. 64-7 (Donat Dep. at 16) (Page ID #1211). No. 12-2484 EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. Page 25 “[e]vidence of whether a particular function is essential includes, but is not limited to” the seven listed factors) (emphasis added); see also 29 C.F.R. § 1630, app. § 1630.2(n) (“[T]he list [of factors included in § 1630.2(n)(3)] is not exhaustive.”) (emphasis added). The appendix continues that “other relevant evidence may also be presented. Greater weight will not be granted to the types of evidence included on the list than to the types of evidence not listed.” 29 C.F.R. § 1630, app. § 1630.2(n) (emphasis added). As in any case, testimony from the plaintiff can be sufficient to preclude summary judgment, provided that it creates a genuine dispute of material fact. Giving weight to Harris’s testimony in this case will not mean that “every failure-toaccommodate claim involving essential functions would go to trial.” Maj. Op. at 11. Take the issue of whether physical presence at the worksite is an essential function. Some jobs clearly require an employee to be in the office—for example, an employee who works in a factory and must use large immobile equipment that is located only on-site. Testimony from that employee that he or she could nevertheless work from home on that immobile equipment will not create a genuine dispute of material fact precluding summary judgment. What appears to be driving the majority’s unwillingness to give any weight to Harris’s own testimony is an unstated belief that employee testimony is somehow inherently less credible than testimony from an employer. Employers, just as much as employees, can give testimony about whether a particular function is essential that is “self-serving” or not grounded in reality. Our role is not to assess who is more credible. Rather, at the summary-judgment stage, we must take the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. As we recently explained, “[i]f an employer’s judgment about what qualifies as an essential task were conclusive, an employer that did not wish to be inconvenienced by making a reasonable accommodation could, simply by asserting that the function is essential, avoid the clear congressional mandate that employers mak[e] reasonable accommodations.” Rorrer v. City of Stow, 743 F.3d 1025, 1039 (6th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted) (second alteration in original).