Opinion ID: 1183500
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prima Facie Case of Handicapped Discrimination

Text: Metro asserts that the trial court should have dismissed the action, claiming that Dean failed to make a prima facie case that he had been discriminated against. Glasgow v. Georgia Pac. Corp., 103 Wn.2d 401, 693 P.2d 708 (1985) stated that federal law may be considered instructive with regard to the interpretation of our state discrimination laws. Metro asks that we apply the 4-part test announced in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 36 L.Ed.2d 668, 93 S.Ct. 1817 (1973) to hold that Dean had not presented a prima facie case. McDonnell Douglas involved rejection of employment of a black worker who had protested his discharge as racially motivated. He challenged the company's failure to rehire him under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1974. The opinion held that for the claimant to make a prima facie showing of race discrimination in a failure to hire case he had to show (a) qualification for the job the employer was seeking to fill; (b) rejection despite qualifications; (c) that the position remained open; and (d) that the employer continued to seek applicants with plaintiff's qualifications. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, supra at 802. McDonnell Douglas allocates the burden of proof as follows: (1) the worker must make a prima facie case by a preponderance of the evidence; (2) the burden is then upon the employer to produce a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the challenged act; and (c) the burden then is upon the worker to show that the employer's claimed reasons are pretext. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, supra at 802-04. Texas Dep't of Comm'ty Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 67 L.Ed.2d 207, 101 S.Ct. 1089 (1981), continuing to apply the test, recognized that factors may vary depending on the individual case. The opinion states in part: We have stated consistently that the employee's prima facie case of discrimination will be rebutted if the employer articulates lawful reasons for the action; that is, to satisfy this intermediate burden, the employer need only produce admissible evidence which would allow the trier of fact rationally to conclude that the employment decision had not been motivated by discriminatory animus.... ... ... When the plaintiff has proved a prima facie case of discrimination, the defendant bears only the burden of explaining clearly the nondiscriminatory reasons for its actions. Burdine, at 257, 260. [3] The situation before us involves not a failure to hire, however, but a failure to reasonably accommodate a handicap which developed while in the employ of the employer. It was the duty of Metro to reasonably accommodate Dean by informing him of job openings for which he might be qualified. It was correspondingly the duty of Dean to cooperate with the employer in the hunt for other suitable work by making the employer aware of his qualifications, by applying for all jobs which might fit his abilities and by accepting reasonably compensatory work he could perform. As observed in Stieler v. Spokane Sch. Dist. 81, 88 Wn.2d 68, 558 P.2d 198 (1977), at page 74: There is no civil rights violation in denying a job to a person who is not qualified to perform it. Since the respondent has not shown that she was qualified to fill any of the positions in the new administration, her claim that she was a victim of .. . discrimination is without merit. See also Wright v. Stone Container Corp., 524 F.2d 1058 (8th Cir.1975); Laws v. Commonwealth, 50 Pa. Commw. 424, 412 A.2d 1381 (1980); Comment, Relative Qualifications and the Prima Facie Case in Title VII Litigation, 82 Colum. L. Rev. 553 (1982). When the Legislature passed RCW 49.60 it included the following: 49.60.020 Construction of chapter  Election of other remedies. The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally for the accomplishment of the purposes thereof. In keeping with this provision, and to promote the statute's recognition that the right to be free from discrimination because of physical handicap is a civil right which includes the right to hold employment without discrimination, we hold that Dean needed only to prove, as one alternative, that he was qualified for available positions for which he applied. See Brown v. General Motors Corp., 601 F.2d 956 (8th Cir.1979). Metro could in its turn prove he was less qualified than those hired to fill those existing vacancies. Maine Human Rights Comm'n v. Canadian Pac. Ltd., 458 A.2d 1225 (Me. 1983). Dean was able to produce proof of application for five positions. The trial court admitted evidence regarding other jobs for which Dean was qualified and had applied, but could not prove that he had done so. Discrimination against the handicapped differs from discrimination on the basis of race, age, creed or sex in that the statute requires that the employer affirmatively assist the employee who becomes handicapped on the job. Holland v. Boeing Co., 90 Wn.2d at 389. It is an unfair practice for an employer to fail or refuse to make reasonable accommodations to the sensory, mental, or physical limitations of employees, unless the employer can demonstrate ... an undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business. WAC 162-22-080(1). Metro failed to make reasonable accommodations to Dean's handicap when he informed it of his illness in that Metro treated him as any other job applicant, did not determine the extent of his disability, did not call him into the office to assist him in applying for other positions but left the initiative to him. He received no special attention from the personnel office when he tried to find another position within Metro. In addition, Metro acknowledged having job openings that Dean could not have discovered on his own. Metro personnel made themselves available to Dean but took no affirmative steps to help him find another position. This was required of them as reasonable accommodation. In order to make a prima facie case of handicap discrimination, Dean was required to prove that he had the qualifications for positions which Metro was seeking to fill and that Metro did not take appropriate affirmative steps to help him find an alternative position within the company. The evidence supports the jury's verdict that Dean carried his burden of persuasion and that Metro did not convince them that it had discharged its responsibility. We hold that to make a prima facie case of handicap discrimination an employee plaintiff must prove that he or she is handicapped, that he or she had the qualification required to fill vacant positions and that the employer failed to take affirmative measures to make known such job opportunities to the employee and to determine whether the employee was in fact qualified for those positions.